Life is a Highway
by Urufumaru
Summary: Ike is the new teacher at a new school. He was assigned to one of the most troublesome classes on the entire school. Luckily his special training would help him, however there are some things you just can't learn in school. IkexLink. ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. FOR REASON READ BOLD WRITING IN THE LATEST CHAPTER. Sorry...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:**

Well I haven't been here in forever and a day. Oops.

But you should know that this is a story I've been working hard on. For this story I studied, yea, I STU-DIED. I've laid more work in this than most of the assignments I get in school.

And I have to say even though I haven't posted anything, since I was working on this, there was a certain absence of IkexLink fics out there. I may have had a break from writing, but I'll never take a break from reading. Oh well, can't change the past. On with the story.

**Edit: This is now beta-ed (Is that what it's called?)**

Super Smash Bros. Brawl/Melee is owned by Nintendo

* * *

><p><span>Chapter One<span>

It was the first day of school. Ike adjusted his shirt for the tenth time in the last five minutes. He sighed and kept telling himself not to be nervous. A slightly shaky hand reached for the handle on one of the huge double-doors in the school.

When Ike opened the door, most of the students turned their heads around, giving him their full attention. He froze, and he started blinking, wondering what could have brought attention to him.

''Oh yeah! Senior year! Just one more year and I'm outta here!'' A teenager with alarmingly red, spiky hair was pumping his fist in the air while yelling out as loud as he could, which was really loud. Right next to him were two brunettes. One of them was jumping up and down with a dangerously high enthusiasm, considering the fact that it was the first day of school. The other had his eyes shut in annoyance and was pinching the bridge of his nose.

Ike breathed out in relief. One, it wasn't him everyone was staring at, and two, it seemed like the twelfth grade was filled with idiots...or at least two.

''All right! Since we're seniors, that means that we are the oldest ones!'' The brunette who yelled began...Dancing with the redhead?

''We are seniors! We are seniors!'' They sang in a slightly mocking tone. Their elbows were locked together while they were skipping around each other in circles.

One by one, the rest of the students began to lose interest, since the two only sang while dancing around each other; however, all of their heads perked up when another one walked in, using the other door right next to Ike.

The blond looked at the two with wide eyes, but his brows were furrowed. He looked shocked, but at the same time not.

''You've got to be kidding me.'' Link glanced over to Red, who just stood there while rubbing his temples. ''You two actually started dancing_and_singing 'cause we're seniors now.''

The redhead and brunette stopped dancing and gave their slightly taller friend some of their attention. ''Well of course, I mean there's not much they can do now. We're almost out of here.'' The redhead jerked his thumb towards the huge double-doors, a huge smirk adorning his face. Link gently closed his eyes while knitting his brows, and a smirk appeared on his face, mirroring the one that was on the redhead's. ''Heh. You just said it yourself, we're_almost_out of here, which means we've still got a whole year, three-hundred and sixty-five days of required school.''

''Well, unlike you and Red, Pit and I are not nerds with a big N.'' Roy glared daggers at Link, trying to intimidate him, but the blond was not affected by his attempts to glower.

Link gave a blank stare while crossing his arms. His gaze wandered over to Red, who was trying to discreetly walk away; however, Pit had his arms around his waist, preventing his escape. ''You don't need to be a genius to know that there are three-hundred and sixty-five days in the year.''

While the four students were busy bickering, Ike managed to escape, getting through the masses of students who were enjoying some free entertainment. He was now walking in the temporarily empty—because of the 'argument' happening in front of the entrance of the school—halls.

_''Where could the teacher's lounge be?''_

At that moment, Ike saw a door to his left that said 'Teacher's Lounge'.

_''Huh. Well lucky me.''_

The exterior seemed normal, with the teachers' calm faces speaking to each other, drinking coffee, and preparing for their first class of the year. However, if one were to look closer, one would see their slightly knitted eyebrows, the small twitching in their fingers, and the deep breaths. Being a teacher was probably not as easy as it looked—it didn't even look easy to begin with!

''Did you hear that Roy Pherae and Pit Icarus have already started a ruckus?''

''Yeah, those poor people who have to even come near that class.''

''I was their substitute for _one _lesson. I don't understand how anyone can teach them anything at all.''

''Come on. I've been one of their teachers for two years, and I hardly ever have any problems with them,'' said a fit, well-built brunette with a scruffy face.

''Well, you obviously don't remember the first year we met them.'' A thin blonde woman said, her hair set up in a ponytail that showed her slim neck.

''Oh yeah, I remember that! What a bunch of psychopaths. That reminds me—where is that poor bastard who's joining our duo, or should I say, trio?'' Snake rested his hands behind his head, completely oblivious to the fact that the "poor bastard" was standing behind him, hearing every single word.

''Ahem!'' Ike cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. ''Hi. Here's the poor bastard you were talking about.'' He waved while smiling mischievously.

Snake quickly turned around, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Not even a second later, his eyes lit up in epiphany. ''No way. You're the new teacher who's joining us.'' A genuine smile plastered itself onto the older man's face. ''What a pleasant surprise.''

Samus started casually walking towards the two men, who apparently knew each other. ''So, why don't you two tell me how you met.'' Her eyes widened, and her eyebrows rose in surprise. ''Hmm. Looks like I'm not the youngest teacher now. What brings you to our school, or should I say our class?'' She threw a playful smirk towards Ike while folding her arms.

''Heh, maybe it's because this school is infamous for having one of _the _most hellish classes in this entire country. You people know me; I love challenges. Maybe I just wanted to work with the only teachers I know who haven't taught me or haven't successfully managed to do so.'' Ike started to chuckle.

''Hey. You seem to have forgotten everything I taught you while you were under training._I_was the one who had to look out for your sorry ass. Oh, I miss the days when you had to address me as 'sir'.'' Snake smiled while the memories hit him from his days in service, as well as the memory of the day when a slightly younger Ike was sent there for special experimental training.

When Snake was a lieutenant colonel—which wasn't that long ago—he was surprised to find out that he had gotten a new recruit, one that needed special training.

Usually it was the captains who were assigned to teach the recruits; however, because of an earlier traumatic experience, he was also allowed to do so.

Ike Greil was the son of a close friend and a senior officer he met in his earlier services. Snake knew that he wanted to slow down with a wife and kids. He had already met the boy, but then Ike was just a little kid—four years old to be exact. Snake was glad regardless, for this time he could train a Greil, and not the other way around.

Snake was shocked, to say the least, when he heard that the kid was not considering a career in the military, but in education instead; the kid was going to become a teacher. Snake had to teach him about discipline and how to deal with disobedience. He knew that Ike always loved challenges, so it wasn't such a big surprise that he aimed for the more 'troublesome' classes to teach.

Snapping back to the present, Snake had missed Samus' story about how she and Ike met, but he felt that he had a responsibility over the younger man. He had to teach him about the devils whom he was going to be tutoring for the next twelve months.

Snake cleared his throat while tapping his wristwatch.

''Okay, I'm usually not the one who says this, but,'' the older male showed the watch located on his wrist, which displayed the numbers '7:19', ''we're kind of pressed for time. And that's considering that I have to teach you everything you need to know about 'them'.'' Snake hooked his arm around Ike's elbow and started dragging him out of the teacher's lounge, leaving Samus with a raised eyebrow, silently laughing to herself.

_''Old man Snake better give him some god damn good advice, or else he's practically pushing him into a battlefield with neither armor nor weapon.''_

Walking into the classroom, Ike kept repeating the tips Snake had given to him.

_Watch out for Pit and Roy. Those two only want to provoke you, and they will succeed if you don't take them down. Remember, hit them quick, and hit them hard._

Ike had had experience on how to deal with disobedience. As an experiment, they—or his future bosses—sent him to the military for one year so he could learn how to deal with especially troublesome students; hence he was assigned to this particular class. Ike learned a lot of useful things, but the one skill he would probably use the most was his trained ability to read people. The human mind was amazing, being able to pick up such small signals. That skill only increased with Ike's training. The physical training was also a major plus, since Snake was getting tired of barking around orders on that particular subject—Ike was probably going to take over P.E. too.

As Ike opened the door, he prepared himself for the worst. He had, after all, received a brief encounter with the two worst troublemakers; however, only two people wouldn't be enough to make almost every teacher in the building fear this class. Ike started to think back to earlier in the day. Yeah, there were a couple of other kids with them, but they didn't seem like the kind to hang out with people like them. The others seemed too mature. Maybe they knew he was going to be their new teacher and were just acting...

_''Woah! Time to stop the paranoia now. Relax, Ike, they're not even eighteen yet, and you have handled people far more intelligent than a bunch of kids in high school!''_

With the door wide open, Ike got a good look at the people he was going see almost every day for the next year. What he saw was absolutely shocking. Each and every student was sitting in their respective seats...with their hands folded in front of them. They all looked so innocent, too innocent.

_Hit them quick, and hit them hard._

Snake's words echoed in Ike's head. But how could he disarm an enemy of whom he had no knowledge? All he had in his disposal was Snake's advice, and that wasn't much considering they hardly had any time to speak. Why did Ike have to have the first lesson of the day? He needed a clue, a sign, anything! He needed something that would tell him about these kids, or at least the worst of them.

''Okay. My name is—"

Ike was abruptly_and_rudely cut off as a redheaded—and unfortunately familiar—boy stood up, gaining everyone's attention.

'' 'Kay, I think I speak for the entire class when I say this: No matter what your name is, I don't think you're any more special than any of the other teachers who tried to 'educate' us. You'll probably be out the door very soon,'' Roy said while air-quoting the words 'educate'.

Eureka. It was just what Ike needed! His brain cogs started turning; thank God for human mind study.

_''Interrupting someone of my occupation like that indicates little to no respect; He's used to getting away with his behavior. Using that gesture says that he doesn't take education seriously; He probably has moderate to low grades. His clothing tells that he comes from a middle-class family, maybe upper middle-class; Having successful parents means that grades are important to them. He's got expensive electronic equipments; He's an only child. In short, he's got a huge ego. And the bigger ego there is, the more fun it is to crush.''_

A smirk appeared on Ike's face. Roy returned this with a raised eyebrow, both in question and amusement.

''Oh, but I beg to differ.'' Ike walked towards Roy, arms behind his back—a habit from the military. ''Unlike the other teachers who tried to 'educate' you, I'm not leaving, and with that I have the authority to fail you in all the subjects you have with me—thus disappointing your parents. That's not good, especially considering that you're an only child. Now, why don't you go sit back in your seat and listen to me like the good little boy your mom and dad think you are. Don't you want to know the name of the man you will be having as a teacher for the next twelve months?''

Roy stood there, mouth agape and eyes wide. No one talked to him like that, _no one_. It was the first time in many years that a grown-up had made him speechless, a complete and utter shock. What now?

The redhead sat down, but not before giving Ike a look that clearly said 'Don't think this is over.' A victorious grin spread out across Ike's face, his doubt leaving him completely and utterly.

_Hit them quick, and hit them hard._

''Now, does anybody else want to add something? No? Okay. As I was saying, my name is Ike Greil, and I will be your teacher for the rest of high school. And no, that does not mean any of your old teachers quit or went out the door.''

* * *

><p>Roy mustered up his nastiest glare. That new guy was going to get it one day, Roy promised himself, the class and the new guy.<p>

''But I will be taking over a few classes. They are as follows: P.E., science, and English. I might take over a few extra classes, just so I can get to know each and every one of you.'' Groaning was heard (mostly from Roy), and Ike couldn't help but smile a little internally. He'd managed to show them, one of the most feared classes to teach, that he was not to mess with.

''Now I only have one question: Do you guys want us all to introduce ourselves properly—more than just names—or do you want me to start right on...let's see...the human nervous system?''

Pit was quick to stand up. He did not want to start a lesson, especially not on something as complicated as the nervous system, on the first day of school.

''My name is Pit, Pit Icarus, and I am a computer nerd. My favorite lesson is lunch, and I am really bad at science, unless it's technology, as in machines and stuff.'' Unless one was blind, it was obvious that this Pit kid was into machines; wearing a black t-shirt with some sort of binary code written in lime green said it all.

What a great start. Why was Ike so worried for just a few, not hours, but minutes ago? If each student introduced themselves like that, it would be a piece of cake to analyze and learn about every one of them. ''That was good. Lunch is not a lesson, though, but good. So, who's next?''

''I might as well be next, but may you tell a little about yourself, pray tell?''

_''Hmm. Classy language. Didn't expect to see or hear that here.''_

''Okay. What do you want to know, Mr…?'' Ike stared lazily at the one who acted and looked a little too mature to be still in high school.

''Marth. Marth Lowell. I presume you are able to present the same amount of information as Pit did.'' His eyes were half-glaring at the older one's, analyzing them with skepticism. ''_Roy is a stubborn little moron, there's no way he would've backed away that easily.''_

Seeing that intense x-ray gaze, Ike immediately knew that this was one of those people; the type you, no matter what, did _not_ want to be an enemy with.

''Well aside from my name, I guess you could know that I skipped first grade, and I'm acquainted with your two current teachers. I've been in the military for one year, and yes, this is my real hair color. Now, your turn Lowell.'' Ike smiled, for he had just made a clever move in their mental game of chess.

Marth kept his gaze and face stern. ''As you know, my name is Marth Lowell, I have above average grades, I speak three languages fluently, and I am the president of the student body council.''

''Well, nice meeting you,_'Mister President'_. Okay, who's next?''

For the rest of the class, it went pretty smoothly—one of them sounded a little sadistic, though. When Ike asked Roy to tell about himself, all he got back was a 'You already know more than enough 'bout me.' Ike couldn't help but smile, internally and externally, which succeeded in making Roy's mood even worse. Now there were only two students who had yet to introduce themselves to Ike; it was the two from before, from earlier that morning (Excluding Roy and Pit).

''Now, that wasn't so difficult, now was it…'' Ike had to remember the student's name. Her name was pretty unusual, so it shouldn't be so difficult. ''...Peach?'' Who in the world would name their daughter after a fruit? Oh wait, that's right, that girl's parents would. ''Now why don't...you do it.'' Ike pointed at the brunette from before. He was wearing a red hoodie, pale blue jeans, and a red cap.

The red cap looked up lazily with drowsy eyes. Had he been sleeping all this time?

A sigh escaped his lips. ''Fine.'' His eyes grew more focused, and his posture straightened up. ''My name is Red, and well, my favorite color is red.'' Red's copper-colored eyes became duller while he slumped back into his chair. Ike didn't get much, yet at the same time enough, information about Red. He was calm, quiet, and a little anti-social, but he probably had a more childish side of him—a very well hidden one.

Ike turned himself around so he was facing the last one, Link.

Link wore an open black jacket, a forest green t-shirt, loose-fitting jeans, and...a headset.

Ike was about to walk over there and tear off that black hairband made out of metal and plastic, but Link looked up before the teacher even started moving. He removed his headset, albeit slowly, which ticked off Ike a little.

Ike heard the faint sound of the song the blond student was listening to.

_~I said please don't slow me down  
>If I'm going too fast<br>You're in a strange part of our town...~_

''My name's Link.'' Link said. He then proceeded to put the headset back on, isolating him from the class and the rest of the world.

Ike took a deep breath, calming himself down._''This kind of behavior is more annoying than that redhead's.''_He found it more agitating because when they hardly told or did anything, he couldn't analyze it as effectively as he could if they had. He checked his watch; there were still twenty minutes left.

''O-kay, it seems like we've got twenty minutes to spare. You can do whatever the hell you want, as long as it follows the law, and if any of you got any questions for me, feel free to ask.'' Ike sat down at the teacher's desk. Oh, how good it felt to be the one in charge, seeing a classroom from a teacher's perspective and not a student's. Ike's dark blue eyes scanned the room, trying to see who hung out with who.

Roy took a seat next to Pit, who was pulling up his laptop. ''Man, what a jerk. Who does he think he are?''

''Is,'' Pit said without looking away from the screen, his focus set on full.

''What?''

''Who does he think he_is_. No wonder you get D's in English.'' Pit started tapping impossibly fast, his eyes scanning each and every letter.

''Well, you don't get much better.'' Pit shrugged, mostly ignoring Roy's words. ''What are you doing?''

Pit pointed at a picture of Ike in a uniform. Roy's brow rose in interest. What could that be?

''Military. Some sort of general? Does it mean we have to salute him every time we see him? Snake tried that once, and it did not end well for either of us.'' Roy thought back to the time when they were freshmen getting their heads dunked in toilets, getting taped to the flagpole, being mummified in toilet paper. Such memorable years.

''Nah. He's too young.'' Pit started mumbling to himself. His typing picked up speed—if that was even possible—while he knitted his brow. Roy, seeing how his friend was concentrated and giving even more effort than in any test or project the school gave him, couldn't help but take a peek at the screen. Several windows were open with small text. A new window opened up before Roy managed to read two words.

Pit gave a half-smile. ''Come on, just a little more.'' Roy started to put the pieces together, but he still couldn't see the larger picture.

''What are you doing?''

''You know the new teacher?'' Roy nodded, a frown crept itself onto his face.

''First I did a little research. It seems like he's been in the military for some reason—"

''—You mean it's something different from what people usually go there for?''

''Yes. I tried to find out what, but I'll need my stationary computers. My_one_laptop is not enough.''

''So what are you doing now?''

''Every teacher has their own laptop, correction, every _person_ has their own laptop, or at least the ones over fourteen.''

Roy cocked his eyebrow. He didn't get his laptop before he was fifteen, and he knew some people who didn't even have their own computer.

''Okay, another correction, every person has access to a computer.'' Pit held out his hand, stopping Roy from saying another word. ''Long story, long debate_and_long explanation short: I am hacking Mr. Ike Greil's laptop.''

A malicious grin spread itself on Roy's face. It was payback time.

Marth rose from his chair, walking towards where Link and Red sat. Rolling his eyes at Roy and Pit's cackling (they sounded just like those wicked witches you heard about in fairytales), he was mildly surprised to hear that Link and Red were not talking about the new teacher, but instead what the two shorter individuals sitting in the back of the room—still cackling like maniacs—were doing.

''What do you think they're doing?'' Link had taken off his headset and was now mindlessly doodling in a little book.

''Being idiots...as usual.'' Red said without tearing his eyes away from the book he was now holding in his hands. Suddenly, he slammed the book down on his desk, making Link jerk up his head. ''Or maybe they're hacking the Pentagon and planning to take over the world. You never know with those two.''

Link started to giggle. Ike stopped trying to listen to the conversation and directed his attention to the giggling student. A boy at the age of what? Seventeen, giggling like a little girl in first grade. He couldn't figure out anything, for all the signals he'd seen so far contradicted each other. He would remember to ask Snake about…Link, wasn't it?

Link's laughter (or girlish giggle) died down. ''Nah. They're probably trying to find out something about the new guy.'' He jerked his thumb in the direction of the teacher's desk.

''Yeah, he's probably right...Say, is it just me or does it feel like he's staring at us?'' Marth sat backwards on one of the chairs.

''Who's he...Oh...He's probably staring at Link for giggling like an idiot. And you wonder why people think you are effeminate," Red said while looking at Link from the corner of his eye.

''Hey! Do you never listen to me!''

Everyone's attention turned to Pit, who was standing up and pointing at Red almost accusingly. Staring intensely, he took a deep breath.

''Only real men giggle!''

Marth pinched the bridge of his nose, Red shook his head, Link smiled in amusement, and Ike, well, Ike could only think one thought.

_''I am indeed in a strange part of their town.''_

The last minutes went by fast, for some not fast enough, and for some too fast.

Ike was still puzzled over the blond student's behavior. It told him something and nothing at the same time. It was infinitely frustrating, and it only further agitated him when he thought he saw Link smiling at him. A smile that said: 'Are you smart enough to find out?' When Ike said they could go five minutes early, he could hear his own voice being more frustrated than normal. Luckily, it seemed like none of the students picked it up.

Roy was walking backwards with Pit's laptop in his hands. Pit was still typing, his eyes fastened on the screen.

Link was the last student to exit the room, but not before singing loud enough for Ike to hear.

_~You sound so angry  
>Just calm down, you found me~<em>

Ike's eyes widened in surprise. He had to talk to Snake about Link. Yes, he remembered his name. He waited until Link's voice died down.

_~I said please don't slow me down  
>If I'm going too fast...~<em>

Silence finally filled the room, but not for long, for it was soon filled with Ike's own footsteps. He had to find Snake, and he had to find out more about the class, even though it went very well; Roy and Pit's cackling and the enigma known as Link bugged him.

Speak of the devil.

''Hey, Snake! Got a minute?''

Link was there too, but he didn't stay for long.

'' 'Kay, see ya later.'' He flashed Ike a smile and started to whistle the all-too-familiar song.

''Hey, I need to ask you someth—''

Snake raised his hand, telling Ike to stop talking. The brunette's index finger and thumb formed a tear shape while the other three fingers were straight. His right hand went over to the left side of his face and placed the tips of his thumb and index finger in front of the left side of his mouth. He dragged it over to the right side slowly, smiling the entire time.

His lips were sealed.

Ike's brow turned up in confusion.

Was it Roy and Pit who were the ones who drove the other teachers insane, or was it Link?

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><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

Link be trolling. Oh well *shrug*

Edit: I should probably say that the song Link's been listening to and singing is Reptilia by The Strokes

I need your help. Some of you might have noticed there are certain characters who lack a last name; that is because I am really bad at making up names, so I need suggestions from you people who read. Thank you, that is all.

The next chapter will be about the rest of the day.

Please leave a review, it is highly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:**

Ugh. I would have preferred if I had updated earlier, but fate was against me. Not only was it my birthday this Saturday (Which I totally forgot) but I am starting to feel ill. Last time I became sick, I was in my bed for four days straight and was almost hospitalized.

But on the bright side, I recently got Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance in the mail. I ordered it on the on internet, and boy do I love it. Slivershell was right, what a fantastic game. Ike's a freaking beast.

But enough about me, that wasn't the reason any of you came here, so on with the story.

**Edit: Beta-ed/Corrected**

Owned by Nintendo

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Two<span>

Ike took a sip of his coffee.

Samus had the class. She was going to tell them about the new schedule and all the things that would be happening to them as seniors.

Snake still had that mischievous smile. How annoying. What did Link say?

''So Snake, what did you and Link talk about?'' Ike put his coffee cup down on the table, and it made a little 'thunk' sound. Snake lifted his gaze away from his laptop's screen. Pit had been messing with

his computer again.

''Wow. You remembered a student's name so fast. It took me days to learn each and every one's name—well, except for Roy, but he kinda stuck out.'' The older man's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Every time he tried typing in his password, a text saying 'You Fail' popped up.

Snake groaned in frustration while rubbing his eyes. That kid was going get locked up one day.

''Problem?'' Snake only gave Ike a brief glance before returning to his computer screen.

''Damn tech-freak. No, no problem, I just need to have a chat with Pit,_and maybe beat some sense __into that damn brat._'' The last remark came out as a whisper.

Snake gave up and shut his laptop down. ''Now about Link, what do you want to know?'' He stood up, walking towards the counter to make himself some coffee.

''Well I asked already, but what did you and Link talk about?'' Ike took a look over the schedule for

English class, and it was completely blank. Oh, joy.

''You know, stuff. Don't you want to know anything about Roy or Pit instead?'' Snake tried to change the topic, but it didn't work very well.

''No, I can handle them, but that Link is kind of bothering me. It feels like there is something about him, but then again, there is something to them all.'' Snake sat back down with a coffee cup in his right hand. Ike looked at the older man, waiting for him to tell a little about the blond student.

Snake rubbed his stubbly chin in thought. First, his car refused to start, then his computer was hacked, and now Ike wanted to know about the one student he knew least about. Snake regretted his decision of having a smoke-free day; he could really use that long drag of calming nicotine in his lungs right now.

''Well as you know, I don't like having a lack of knowledge about people, especially the people I see almost everyday. I don't like saying this, but I know about as much as any teacher would if they had endured the same amount of time as I have.'' Snake gave a crooked smile; it looked a little sad, though. The older man prided himself in knowing people very well and thus being a good advisor.

''So why don't you tell me the things that_'normal'_teachers would know?'' Ike briefly glanced towards Snake, but quickly returned his attention to that blank paper which was silently mocking him.

''Like what?'' Snake was mindlessly looking out the big window in the teacher's lounge.

''Everything.''

''He's seventeen.''

''Well, duh.''

''He knows how to push people's buttons.''

''I've experienced that.''

''He's got the highest average scores in the entire class.''

''Really?''

''I think it's because he's got an eidetic memory.''

''Oh wow. Well, I think I know what I need now.''

''Hey, don't forget that he's a sarcastic asshole.''

''Oh, I think I can out-sarcasm him.''

Snake arched an eyebrow in question. He knew them both—to a certain degree—and it didn't take a genius to know that seeing them bicker…well, Snake wouldn't mind paying for that show.

Ike took a quick glance at his watch. Samus' briefing about the tenth grade would be finished in thirty minutes, and he had nothing; the plans about his next lesson were still blank. The younger male groaned in frustration. The success of this day kept going up and down; this was a roller-coaster ride he'd like to get off of.

Snake smiled knowingly. ''I think I can help you.'' It was great feeling knowledgeable again.

* * *

><p>The briefing of their last year together in High School was shorter than she had planned. Samus had still twenty-five minutes left, so she let the class do whatever they desired to do.<p>

''So, whatchya doin'?'' Both Pit and Roy jumped up in surprise from Link's voice. He half-sang in a slightly high-pitched mock voice. They both stared at the blond as if he'd just grown a second head.

Pit tried to cover up the computer screen in vain. Either his arms were too small or his screen too large. He smiled sheepishly while laughing a small, nervous laugh. ''Ehehe, nothin'. Why do you ask?''

Link swiftly slapped Pit's hands away from the screen. His eyes started scanning each and every word written.

Link blinked a couple of times until he slowly turned his head towards Pit with an expression that said 'Really?'.

''Are you serious? You guys are trying to hack the new teacher's laptop.'' Now it was Link's turn to stare when all he got from them was a serious look. Neither Roy nor Pit was joking.

Link closed his eyes while taking a deep breath; he opened them slowly. ''So, what do you got so far?'' Roy's red eyebrow rose in confusion, while Pit started smiling eagerly. Like most geniuses, when a subject they're interested in comes up, they tend to start babbling about it.

''Well, I am obviously a little out of shape since I have yet to come through the new guy's PC, so I have taken a little test hack by hacking into Snake's laptop and leaving a welcoming note. I'm sure he'll appreciate it.'' Pit gave a mischievous smile, then he returned to the screen. "But it seems like he's got a more advanced system than Snake. It will probably take a little more time than usual, but it's certainly not beyond my reach.'' Pit smiled proudly. He might not be good at science or English or P.E., but he was a genius at computer science and mathematics. Of course he, at every opportunity he got, would try to sound as intelligent and sophisticated as possible, mostly by copying Marth's speaking pattern.

Link's mouth was a firm, straight line, while his eyebrows went closer to the slightly pointy nose on his face. ''So...What do you got so far?'' He asked the same question, since Pit never actually answered it.

Pit's face turned from pure happiness to slightly annoyed within three seconds. He opened his mouth to speak, but Link's slim hand stopped him by covering his mouth.

''Wait, don't say anything. I want to compare our information. You see, I've got a few facts of my own. You wouldn't mind, would you?''

Both of his classmates shook their heads. Link, too, enjoyed showing his abilities, something that each and every one in the entire school knew about after knowing him for so long (except for Ike).

''Well he is from the mili—wait, would you prefer if I explained my conclusion?' The both of them nodded simultaneously.

''He puts his hands behind his back out of habit, so military there is. By the way he dresses, I say he's single. He looks young, has gone through teacher education, and he's been in the military. I say he bears high intelligence. He skipped first grade, so he probably went to the military at the age of seventeen; adding that to the education it requires to become a teacher, I'd say he's about twenty-two years old. He was able to deduct much of Roy's background and personality, so he's able to read people from their appearance and behavior. From the military he knows Snake, and from school he knows Samus. And he's not fond of being the center of attention in huge crowds.'' Link bit the tip of his thumb while looking up and to the side. He did that every time he was in deep thought, or deeper than normal.

Roy stared blankly at his friend and classmate. He wasn't a genius like Pit or Link, he didn't have the leadership abilities like Marth or Zelda, nor was he as sophisticated and well groomed as Peach. He did better in P.E. than Link and Pit. But that wasn't saying much, and he would never be the best in the class. That title went obviously to Sheik, a friend of Zelda's family; he was highly skilled in gymnastics and martial arts. The most respected—well people didn't exactly disrespect him—was Dark. He was the most respected/feared person in the entire school. There were a lot more people in the class, but they were the ones he hung out with the most. Well, not so much Sheik and Dark.

How could those two be friends? It was probably more of a loathing-respect kind of relationship than friendship.

Unlike his friends, Roy didn't feel special or unique. He was plain. Granted, he was the only child of Eliwood, a very well known man in the entire city, but he would never live up to the name of his father.

When they graduated from High School and started applying for college, they would all split up. Pit would probably get tracked down by the FBI because he was a potential threat to the society. Link would be tracked down too, but instead of being a threat to society he would cure cancer and all

kinds of diseases. Marth would end up as the President or the prime minister, Zelda too. Sheik would end up as her bodyguard, and be hailed as one of the best fighters in the world. And Dark, well, he'd probably end up as the boss of the entire underworld. Roy would end up saying that his only great achievement in life was knowing these people. Why did life have to be so hard on Roy?

''Don't you agree, Roy?''

Roy snapped out of his train of thoughts. A familiar voice brought him back to earth. Two amethysts stared at him, and they were all up in his face. The tiny lips on that round face were puckered, making the owner of those chocolate-brown locks look very silly.

''Agh! Get out of my face, tech-freak!'' Roy promptly shoved Pit away, resulting in him falling to the ground and gaining the attention of the entire class, Samus included. Roy turned around, seeing a very surprised, confused, and wide-eyed Link staring back at him. Roy shrugged while muttering.

''Oops.''

Pit lay on his back staring at the empty ceiling—well, not entirely empty. In black sharpie was written, ''Marth's a freaking dictator.'' Pit remembered when he and Roy wrote that their first year in high school.

Marth had just been elected as the president of the student body council, so he had a little—a lot in Marth's head—more authority than the other students. Marth had just caught Pit and Roy in the midst of breaking into the computer lab and using the school's network for free. The newly elected president scolded the two for about twenty minutes about how it was wrong to use the school's network without permission. The day after, Roy wrote that little sentence on the ceiling of the classroom they were having; let's just say Marth was not happy when he found out that the sharpie was permanent. Both Pit and Roy got detentions, but they agreed it was worth it.

Pit got himself up, seated himself on the chair, and flipped off Roy. ''Like I said. Don't you agree

Roy?'' The brunette stared, mildly annoyed, even though he enjoyed the feeling of nostalgia.

''Huh?'' Roy gave a blank stare.

Pit's brows furrowed instantly, changing his expression significantly. ''Link excluded the fact that Marth and Ike might be related. I mean they both act like dictators and they've got blue hair. I mean come on, you should have known that. _And _how did you know the new guy does not like being the center of attention in huge masses? Aren't you supposed to be the modern day Sherlock Holmes?'' Pit's amethyst eyes eyed Link questioningly.

''First of all, Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character; second of all, Ike and Marth are clearly not related. Look at how their shoulders are built up differently. The width is a clear difference. Look at how Marth's face is slimmer than Ike's and how their hair has different shades of blue, Marth's being a little paler blue. And if they knew each other they would've reacted different towards each other when we were introducing ourselves.'' Link subconsciously glanced towards Marth, who was reading a book titled 'The body's nervous system'. Of course Marth wanted a head start at the possible upcoming subject in science.

Link kept his eyes locked on Marth. ''In case you two have already forgotten, we had a brief encounter with the new guy, and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.''

Link turned his head around to see both Pit and Roy with their faces practically plastered on the screen. He sighed, seeing the very rare but concentrated looks; they weren't going to pay attention to anything else than that damned screen for quite some time.

_''I guess I'll just have to go elsewhere for now.''_

He walked over to Marth, who was wearing glasses that matched the ones he owned himself. Link cleared his throat, gaining the bluenette's attention.

Marth stole a chair from one of the other desks for Link to sit on. The shorter of the two took the invitation and sat down beside his reading fellow. ''So, about the new guy-''

Marth jerked his head up, tore off his reading glasses, and looked at Link, who felt a little intimidated by that intense gaze. ''I loathe that insensitive jerk.''

Link knew where this conversation was going.

''Who in their right mind speaks of a title like 'president of the student body council' in such a disrespectful manner? With that lack of respect, it's a wonder he hasn't gotten himself hung in the military.'' Marth scoffed, feeling his temper rise slightly.

''Oh no. I don't think so.'' Marth looked at Link with mild annoyance. Did he seriously like the new teacher?

''It's hanged, on the other hand.'' Oh, Link loved to tease Marth whenever he found incorrect facts, grammar, or other small details; as soon the blond picked them up, he had to point them out.

Marth gave a small smile. Link barely missed it, but he saw it. Marth had been like an older brother to Link, and it was good since Link didn't have any family. Child protection had been breathing down his neck, more so than usual these last few years. He got along, for he had father and mother figures and even friends who were like siblings to him. All he needed now was a significant other and he would have the full plate.

Link glanced towards the clock on the wall. Still fifteen minutes left.

Both Marth and Link fell into an instant chatter—mostly about Marth's distaste for the new teacher they were having this year—and it didn't take long before Red decided to join in. Oh, how they all would miss each other when they started applying to college to get a higher education.

''OH MY GOD, HE'S GAY!'' both Pit and Roy screamed in unison. They were hushed by Samus, who was trying to have a conversation with some of the girls in their class.

Well, most of them would strive to gain a higher education, and some (Pit and Roy most likely) might not.

Ike was walking towards the classroom, a room he'd probably go to one too many times.

_''Damn it, Snake. This better work.''_

In his left hand Ike held a stack of papers. When he opened the doors, he was greeted by a pair of eyes who held extreme contempt over him. Red, spiky hair and dark blue eyes glared up towards him. He had his arms crossed, his eyes narrowed to slits, and a low growl could be heard.

''Get back to your seat, young man.'' Ike's eyes almost mirrored Roy's. They stood there glaring at each other for some time until…

''Whatever, _ya fruitcake_.'' Roy murmured while going back to his seat.

''Excuse me?'' Ike only heard parts of the insult, but hearing the redhead murmur made him suspicious.

''Nothing, absolutely nothing.'' Roy grinned, crossing his arms and feeling a little victorious._''Oh yeah. One point for Roy.''_

He did a happy dance inside, while smiling and waving from side to side a little bit on the outside.

Ike decided to ignore the little rascal for now; he'd wipe that smile off that bratty face in a matter of

seconds. ''Okay class, we're going to have a little test.''

And as Ike predicted, Roy's face fell from its happy state to the symbol of fear itself.

His shoulders tensed, his eyes widened, and his mouth became practically an upside-down 'U'. Roy was so _not _prepared for any kind of test. God damn it! Why couldn't he have been the one with eidetic memory instead of Link?

''So, I want you all to take up pencils and erasers and nothing else, okay.''

''Shit, shit, shit, shit and a thousand times shit. I am so screwed. Pit dude, you've got to help me.''

Roy turned to his side to plead to Pit for (hopefully) answers. And Pit looked unusually...calm.

The brunette turned his head slowly with an expression that clearly said 'Are you stupid?'.

''Are you senile or something? Have you forgotten the sheer fact that we have gotten this test every year since Snake became our teacher? It's his way of saying, 'I hate you all'.'' Pit's face was blank, saying that the teacher they had for two years still hated their guts and tried to punish them every year.

''Oh.'' Roy sheepishly smiled, scratching the back of his neck. His shoulders finally relaxed, but they shot up as soon as that sheet of paper hit his desk.

Roy took a deep breath. His eyes scanned the room. Marth looked kind of concentrated, while Link just seemed to be...bored.

For the next twenty minutes, the only sounds that could be heard were pencils writing and erasers, well, erasing.

''Done.''

Ike lifted up his head, mild surprise adorning his face._''Already? Hmm, I guess it's expected from him.''_

''Just come here and give it to me.''

Link sighed in annoyance. Why did he have to go all the way to the teacher's desk?

''Here.'' Both of them had their hands on Link's test, their eyes meeting. Azure eyes met sky blue ones. Their gazes lingered a second too long compared to a normal meet of the eyes. The younger male turned around on his heel, making his way back to his seat.

After Link delivered his test, forty minutes went by and it was the end of class. Ike was gathering all the tests. Pit's test was partially filled out while Roy's was just filled with scribbles and doodles.

The students started to leave the room. The next class was with Snake; he was going to talk about the exams and the changes—basically the same as what Samus said earlier that day.

It was lunch (Pit's favorite 'lesson'), and the three teachers were seated in the teacher's lounge. Each of them had a cup of coffee. They were discussing how they were going to deal with the new schedule and how to deal with the students. They were all one year smarter, and that was not necessary a good thing.

Snake was tapping his computer, tapping harder than necessary. It was a wonder that the small keyboard was still intact.

''Problem, old geezer?'' Samus asked, having a hunch about what seemed to annoy the older man.

The 'old geezer' groaned in more annoyance. _I'll help you in end of the school day, David. _Pit's words echoed inside Snake's head. That damn brat. But Snake had only one year left, one year and his suffering would finally end. It was too bad that he had started to get attached to those damn brats. Life just loved him.

''Well from what I heard, only Snake is going to have one more class, then the principal is going to have a ridiculously long speech about the different clubs and a few of the upcoming events. What kind of event was it again?'' Ike was chewing the top of his pencil.

''I think they call it students' night. Teachers and students gather and get to know each other, catch up and stuff. It's like a ball but infinitely less formal, and there's an eighty percent higher chance that at least one of the students has spiked the drinks.'' Samus remembered last year when the students managed to get Snake drunk. He was dancing and singing for several hours, and that hangover he got the day after…that was one thing she would never forget.

''So when is it?'' Ike pointed the question to the both of them, even though he had the feeling Snake wouldn't be the one answering.

''In about two months.'' Samus—of course—answered.

''Any tips until then? I think it will take some time before the students will stop pointing at me with a gun.'' Ike was thinking over how long it would take before the class' skepticism would vanish.

''Sure. Snake and I will of course help you, kiddo. Ain't I right, Snake?'' Samus swiftly elbowed the unfocused Snake back into focus.

''Huh? Oh yeah, sure.''

The rest of the day went by in a flash, or at least parts of it. During the speech it seemed like all of the students could prove the fact that one could be bored to death.

Ike stood in the parking lot fiddling with his keys. Samus and Snake had left during the speech; apparently the principal held the same speech every year. Oh, what a joy it would be working here.

He was about to sit down into his car, but something caught his attention.

Link was standing next to a car with two adults, and he didn't look so happy. In fact, his face was slightly red with anger. His eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes sharp, his teeth biting down. He was not happy at all.

The man tried to put his hand on the boy's shoulder, but Link quickly pulled away, slapping that hand away. The woman tried to speak to the very angry blond, but all she got back was more shouting. Ike couldn't hear a single word, but their body language spoke for itself.

Link swiftly turned on his heel, walking away from the two adults. He was walking a little faster than his usual walking pace.

Link was soon out of view and the two adults shook their heads in disappointment, and then they went back to their dark colored car and drove away.

Ike knew he couldn't let that kind of thing just go by like it was nothing, but he couldn't just walk up to Link and confront him about such a personal matter either, especially considering how little time

they had known each other.

Did the others know about this? Who were those people? And how long had this been going on?

* * *

><p><strong><span>Author's note:<span>**

I'll be jumping forth a few days or weeks in the next chapter, just so you know.

Hopefully the next chapter will be up this weekend, so stay tuned.

Reviews are appreciated and constructive criticism is even more.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note:**

I should come up with some kind of good explanation for not updating as early as I said, but I don't have one. But seriously, this chapter was so difficult to write because of this: When I wanted to write, I didn't have time. When I had time I couldn't write; seriously, nothing came to my mind. I even started to wander around the house, and people were staring. But enough about that—it's here now (Finally!).

This might be kind of jerk move but...It will be quite some time before I will make a new update. I won't go on a 'hiatus', but I won't update this story until, hmm...Let's say after Easter. I blame school and spontaneous family trips (Seriously, I woke up in the morning and suddenly had to go on a two hour walking trip). I don't like it but I think it's the best, because otherwise I'll just end up with a major writer's block and have to go on an actual hiatus. Do not want.

**Edit: Beta-ed/Corrected**

Nintendo owns the Super Smash Bros. Series

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Three<span>

It had been a couple of weeks since that incident Ike witnessed happened. Neither Snake nor Samus had seemed to notice anything different in Link's behavior, so he must get frequent visits from those people. But who were they?

During those two weeks he got really well acquainted with the class. Ike especially liked the P.E. classes, mostly because of how he could taunt the students...Well just one, actually.

The second time they had P.E., Ike decided that they were going to have a cooper test, much to the students' dismay.

Roy had been jogging in above-average speed; there were about four minutes left. His feet started aching, and his breath became shallow. Ike had been taunting him, telling him to run faster, stressing him by rapidly clapping his hands. Man, cooper test sucks. Why couldn't they play some kind of sport, like soccer? Roy was pretty good at that, but now he was jogging, not kicking a soccer ball.

Roy managed to jog up to Pit—not that it was that much of an accomplishment, considering that the slightly shorter boy wasn't a sporty guy at all.

''Man, this sucks.''

Pit didn't answer; instead he just nodded. He was way too tired and out of breath to talk.

''Hey Roy! If you're able to have a social conversation with Pit, then you should be able to run faster.'' Oh, how Ike loved to taunt Roy—well, he actually just wanted to pay Roy back for that one little stunt he pulled the first week.

Roy didn't only put salt in his coffee, but he had somehow managed to make it icy cold. Not only that, but Ike was wearing a white shirt! Wasn't that just dandy… Ike, from that moment, decided to make Roy's life as miserable as possible, but at the same time having fun doing so. Hence why Roy was getting a little extra 'attention' in P.E. class.

They were currently having their second cooper test. Ike wanted to see how much improvement they made in one week, much to the students chagrin.

Ike didn't taunt Roy more than necessary this time around.

All of them were wearing their gym clothing, shorts, t-shirts, and gym shoes. However the first day of the week it was announced that there was going to be a fire drill that very same week, but they didn't know when. Until…

Ring! Ring! Ring!

The school's fire alarm told all of the students with its booming voice, echoing through the entire school, to get out as fast as possible, or else.

Ike took a quick glance at his wristwatch. Was the fire drill set today, or did some students accidentally—or not so accidentally—set the fire alarm off? He had to check to make sure. Ike wasn't going to send all of his students out in the cold rain. He did care about them very much.

''Stay here. I'm going to check up on this. If this is a real fire, it's not my fault if you guys burn in.''

Ike started walking towards the gym's exit, leaving the teenagers to fend for themselves in case there was a real fire (which was highly unlikely).

Some of the students started laughing, albeit quietly. They all had started to get used to their teacher's more sarcastic humor. Even though they hadn't known each other very long, it was long enough for them to form a decent teacher-student relationship.

Roy started to walk towards Link, who was standing right next to Pit and talking to him.

''Got to say; Ike sure does care about us, even though we don't know each other _that_ much. What a nice guy.'' Pit spoke over the fire alarm.

''Please tell me you were being sarcastic.'' Link had his hands shoved down in his pockets, his entire body slightly damp with sweat. He had just finished his cooper test, and he was soon going to be

very grateful for that.

Before Roy got to have a single word in their very pointless conversation, Ike came back telling them all to get out of the gym. The huge hall had its own exit, so the students could get out into the cold rain much faster than the rest of the school.

While they were standing outside in the cold rain, some in just their socks, most of the comments that were spoken were as follows: "This better be a real fire."

* * *

><p>Samus, from day one, was very fond of the thought that she was going to read a book to the class.<p>

Everyone needed some good literature in their life. Unfortunately for Samus, her students did not entirely agree with her.

Every time she tried reading for them, they were either drawing, sleeping, or having their attention focused on something completely different. That was why she wasn't completely devastated when she heard her own voice almost completely gone when she woke up the next day.

Samus had to call in sick that day. Not only was her voice almost gone, but she had nausea, dizziness, and a high fever. No way was she going to work. But who would step in? Who would willingly take her spot in her little 'reading sessions'?

_''How did Snake convince me to do this again?''_

A flashback containing a Snake on his knees, clinging onto his legs for dear life, begging him to take over Samus' class, came back to Ike. The young man shuddered at the thought; Snake became especially bothersome when he started to shake Ike's legs to the point where he almost lost his balance.

There were some eyes still watching him, but most of them had lost their interest long ago.

Ike turned the book, his eyes scanning the book's title. Its title and author was unknown to Ike. He tried reading the summary, but no; the cogs in his brain didn't even budge.

He flipped through the book, finding the page where they supposedly left off. Ike's eyebrows rose in surprise as his eyes met with a familiar name. What a coincidence.

Ike started reading out loud, catching a few of the teenagers off guard.

''I was walking towards the school, Jenny by my side. School was so boring, but there was always something I was looking forward to.''

While Ike was reading, Roy couldn't help but snicker at his teacher. The book they were reading was a horrible one. A forty-year-old woman tried to see through the eyes of a teenage girl, and not only that, but that woman wrote a book about it. The main character was the perfect stereotype of what the adults thought of the girls around their age.

''Roy.''

Roy's smile faltered at the mention of his name. ''Huh?'' Small laughs could be heard, when one died down another one started.

''You guys have to remember that the Roy I am going to talk about now is the Roy from the book. Remember, don't confuse these two.'' The laughs came back to life, annoying Roy once more.

''We had a test today. It was so difficult, and I used up almost all of the time we got. Roy, on the other hand, was finished really early. He was so smart, and he was a quick learner too, not to mention talented; he could do almost anything—Remember this is the Roy in the book we're talking about, but that's probably very obvious.''

No matter what, even if it was the last thing he did, Roy would get back at him. One way or another.

There were five minutes left, it was the last class of the day, and it was Friday too. Many, if not all, of the students started to become antsy to get home. And Ike was determined to keep them locked in the classroom until the last minute had passed.

Ike kept reading. He had read through a few chapters, most of them containing the main character's thoughts about her crush named Roy. The hotheaded, shorter and seemingly less smart and talented Roy was not pleased; the way his name was being mentioned _and _the fact that Ike declined all his suggestions about leaving a few minutes early annoyed him.

''Come on. Be nice, it's Friday after all.'' Roy had his whole upper-body slumped over his desk, a grim and tired look adorning his face.

''There are two minutes left, and I _don't_ do nice.'' Ike stared back at his redheaded student, a mental battle going on between them.

''Of course you don't do nice. You do guys, or guys do you.''Roy thought bitterly. He once tried to get back at his teacher by blabbering out his sexuality to the whole class.

Ike had joked about how Roy and Pit were constantly chatting with each other, telling them to 'stop flirting'. The whole class started laughing, much to the two boys' dismay. While Pit tried to laugh it off, Roy had an entire different way of dealing with Ike's comment.

''If someone is flirting with guys, it would be you.'' Ike's face flashed a few seconds with surprise, and Roy thought he had finally gotten back at him. Oh, how wrong he was.

Ike made a comeback by replying. ''Maybe, but I'm certain I can do better than you two.'' The class started laughing again. What? He was comfortable with his orientation? And he dared to mock them at the same time? His teacher openly said that not only was he, in fact, gay, but he was also above both Roy and Pit. Dear lord, the plan backfired, and the damage was multiplied by three when it came back.

Getting a sarcastic jackass for teacher was almost as bad as when Link had to start tutoring Roy in most of the subjects they had—snarky comments, a smirk that refused to get wiped off and annoying corrections. It was bad enough that almost every single student in the class had corrected Roy at least once, but now another teacher was added to the list, and this one corrected him every single time they met. What a pain in the ass.

''What about now?'' Roy asked while having a pleading look on his face.

Ike took a quick glance at his wristwatch. ''No, there are still thirty-seven seconds left.''

Roy put both of his hands over his head, his face pointing down towards his desk while groaning in annoyance. Why did he have to be so ridiculously accurate about the time?

''Oh and I want you to stay behind after all the others have left.''

''WHAT?'' Roy's head shot up from the desk, and he started to glare as harshly as he could at his teacher. Ike jumped by Roy's sudden outburst; he stared back, but not as harsh as the redheaded boy.

''Why me? Why is it always me? It's like favoritism, except it's the exact opposite.'' Roy's voice died down as his eyes looked around him and saw that the whole class was staring at him funny. ''What?''

''He was talking to me smart-ass.'' One of Link's eyebrows rose while he crossed his arms. ''And by the way—why do I have to stay behind?''

''If you stay behind, I'll tell you.'' The school's bells rang just as Ike finished that sentence.

The young adult folded his hands and leaned forward, onto his desk; his eyes silently asking the blond student 'What will it be?'.

As the bell's chiming died down, two blue eyes lit up. Roy's eyes pleaded for freedom. Why couldn't he just take the weekend already? Oh, right, a blue haired prison guard was standing between him and his freedom, and he had the keys to the bars.

With an approving look, the guard tossed the keys to Roy; letting him taste his sweet freedom.

''Yes! Freedom, weekend, no school. Pit we're outta here.'' The redhead was dragging the brown haired boy out of the door by his black t-shirt, much to said boy's dismay.

While the last of his classmates were walking out of the door, Link couldn't help but feel a little more nervous than he would have been if it were Snake or Samus who asked him to stay.

As the classroom started to feel more empty—actually almost too empty—Link started to doubt his decision to accept Ike's request. Why did he do this again? Something bad was going to happen, he just knew it.

Link was now alone, save for Ike of course.

What had he done, or what had Pit and Roy done? Why didn't he just ask for one of them to stay behind? Why was he nervous? Link hadn't done anything wrong—well, a few snarky comments had passed his mouth, but nothing else. He did get a nice punch in the stomach and a kick to the groin, but that wasn't so serious. Pit on the other hand…he got stripped down to his underwear and was forced to go around the school half-naked, and his only comment was:Wow, it's just like that dream

I had not long ago.

''So...You're probably wondering why I asked you to stay. Aren't you?'' Link flinched because of Ike's voice and his sudden closeness. Since when was he standing right next to his desk?

Link didn't answer; he was too busy recovering from the shock. There were only a few people who were able to sneak up on him, and the last thing he wanted was another teacher being one of them.

''Let me ask you something first. Has something been on your mind lately? Do you want to tell me something?'' Ike took a nearby chair and sat down right next to Link.'It's okay if you don't want to tell me now. I can wait until you trust me, but I will know what's going. No matter what.'

''No, I don't have anything to tell you. Why do you ask?'' Link's blue eyes scanned around him, looking around him in case there were other people there.

Ike remained silent; he just kept looking at Link's facial expression.

''If that was all that you wanted, then…Can I go now?'' Link started to become even more anxious.

Did he know? No, that was not possible, but what if it was?

Ike grabbed Link's shoulder and pulled him back down when he tried to walk away. ''Who are these people who you have been meeting these last few weeks? The ones who have been talking to you in the parking lot after schoo-" Ike stopped talking as soon as he saw_ and_ felt how tense his student was.

When Link heard Ike's voice stop and the hand on his shoulder disappear, he finally started to relax. He hung his head low, his hands placed lazily in front of him. He suddenly tensed up yet again; two strong arms wrapped themselves around his body and his face crashed into a broad chest.

_''I-is he hugging me?''_Link's body was left immobile while both of his hands were firmly pressed up against Ike's abdomen.

Ike started to rub Link's back soothingly. The last time he had to hold a person like this was when he was nothing more than a mere teenager. At a young age his mother had fallen ill, and she grew weaker by each passing day. The day she died, his father was not present because of some work related matter, so he was left alone watching as the nurses took his mother away to prepare her for her funeral. He wasn't entirely alone; he had his sister by his side, but she didn't help to lighten up his mood. While the nurses were moving their mother's sickly thin and pale, lifeless body, his sister was clutching at his side while burrowing her face in his shirt. Crying, sobbing, weeping over the loss of their beloved mother.

Why? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why?

Ike could clearly remember hearing Mist say those words over and over again. He was holding Link, just like he held Mist all those years ago.

When his father came home, he was overwhelmed by guilt for not being there for his family. He failed his wife by not being by her side when she needed him the most. He was quick to ask for a more stay-at-home job, one where he knew he would spend the weekends and the end of the days with his kids. He may have failed his wife, but damn it, he was not going to fail his children. He was going to protect them until the day they were considered adults. He wasn't able to do exactly what he wanted, but he knew they would manage. Ike was under Snake's guidance (On second thought maybe there was a chance they, or Ike, would not be able to manage) and Mist had left for a highly respected school in Europe.

When Ike came back from his trip to memory lane, Link had wrapped his arms around Ike's waist—well actually Link just had them lazily slung around the older male, but he was still hugging back—and the blond boy was now more relaxed in Ike's embrace.

Ike pulled back and tried to look into Link's eyes, but his head was hanging low. Link brought one of his hands up to his face, but Ike wasn't able to see why he did it.

Their eyes met, and Ike still had a firm grip on both of the blond's arms. Had Link's eyes always been this shiny?

''If you ever want to talk, no matter what, you can always talk to me. Even if you just want a hug, don't hesitate coming to me.'' Ike gave Link's arms a light squeeze. Link nodded in response, eyes looking down and refusing to meet Ike's.

Ike stood up. He put the chair he had been borrowing back to its original place. He turned around and spoke to Link before leaving to get his stuff and get home.

''It's okay. This will be between only you and me. You can trust me.''

* * *

><p>Link's eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed. They were here, and their timing was as perfect as always. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?<p>

Link really wished he had a car just to drive past those people. He would have easily passed the written test—heck if Dark was able to pass it, then so would he. All Link needed was some experience from actually driving a car.

He could always call Dark. Although…Dark might have passed the driver's test, but Link wasn't willing to risk his life by letting Dark control the vehicle they were in.

_''Please, can't somebody help me get through without 'them' knowing? I really don't feel like meeting them today.''_

Ike was walking out of the school. He had over twenty different articles written by his students and the chapter test they had in Science a few days ago. He was going to be busy this weekend.

When Ike was going to retrieve his papers, he couldn't help but notice a tiny splotch on his shirt; it wasn't difficult to notice since there was a small wet spot on his shirt. It was damp, and not very noticeable, at least not to other people.

It wasn't a big deal anyway—it had dried up before he even got to the parking lot. But why was Link just standing there, not doing anything? Talking to someone, talking on his phone, walking away—he didn't do any of them.

''Aren't you going home?'' Link turned around in surprise. Again, that man managed to sneak up on him again.

''I..uh, well.'' Link scratched the back of his head in frustration. It had only been a few weeks, and Ike was already closer to knowing Link's problems than Snake was in the two years they'd known each other.

''I can drive you home if you want. Come on.'' Ike beckoned Link to follow him.

Link sighed in defeat. Well, it was better than having a little chat with 'them' again. He sat himself in the other front seat in Ike's car. It seemed a little too modern and expensive to belong to such a young person as Ike. Said man turned around in his seat so he was facing Link. The engine was on, and they were ready to go.

''So, where do you live?''

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

Link! Didn't your parents teach you to never, and I say never, accept rides home from strangers?

I was considering having Ike and Link go a step further into their relationship in the next chapter, buuut I changed my mind. The reasons are: One, I want Ike and Link to have more development before 'something' happens. Two, I just got a few new things for Ike to do to Roy (and Pit). Just love writing about their little fights. And is this one's great, oh man I gotta write this one down before I forget it. Too bad you guys have to wait a long time for this one this time around.

Even though I'm out on my little vacation from posting/updating/writing, that doesn't mean you guys should have nothing from me. I will ask you a question. If you get this one right you'll get...A one-shot? A request? Influence to this story? A cookie? I don't know? Well anyway, here's the question:

In the next chapter I will have one of the main characters speak a foreign language. The question is:

Which character and what kind of language?

Answer through the reviews. I will tell if you got it right or wrong. I may give a hint, but only after a few things. I'll say more about it when I answer reviews.

Reviews are appreciated, especially the ones with constructive criticism and answers. See you at the end of Easter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:**

Hey. Happy Easter! I hope that my little break wasn't too long. And I know I said by the end of Easter, but I guess you guys deserve an extra chapter to read this Easter.

About that little guessing game I had going...No one got it right, but it doesn't matter. I didn't exactly expect anyone to actually guess right. For some reason Marth was a popular choice. I don't know why. Was it because he hasn't had much 'screen time' or something? Or is it because in all of the Smash Brothers games he's in he speaks Japanese?

I was wondering if I should get a beta-reader. One of the main reasons I'm posting stories is to improve my writing, and for that I need someone to point out my mistakes. But having a beta-reader might mean that I might take a few risks, mainly if the beta-reader is extremely late with reading through and correcting the story. I have to ask you guys: should I try to get a beta-reader, or should I just not give it a shot?

**Edit: Beta-ed/Corrected**

Anyways...Here's the fourth chapter.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Four<span>

''Yeah, how about a Roy flambé?'' Ike rolled from one end of the classroom to the next on the teacher's stool. Conveniently it had wheels, so he could just roll from one place to the other.

''On second thought, I think I would rather eat Dark. Healthier, better trained, and probably more nutritious.'' The whole class started laughing, although it was low and behind their hands.

Roy buried his face in his hands while groaning in annoyance. ''Why are we talking about this again?''

''Well, you were the one who brought up cannibalism in an English class.'' Ike just rolled back to the teacher's desk, where his laptop and other necessary equipment needed for an English class were. The man glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. With five minutes left, he had to start giving them their homework.

''Okay, I'm just going to give a simple assignment this time. It's a twenty page long essay about the Renaissance, and it's due on Wednesday.''

Ike watched in amusement at the youths' reactions. Pit's jaw dropped faster than anyone on earth could say 'What?'. Roy's head snapped up with an expression mixed with both confusion and fear. The rest were skeptical looks, a few nasty glares (a particularly nasty one from Link), and a lazy stare from Red. Did that boy always look so tired? Well yes, most of the time.

''Hey, relax people. I was just joking, geez. How about an essay where you tell about an average day in your life? Four to five pages, due on Friday. How does that sound?''

Most of the expressions softened at the more reasonable proposition. Roy and Pit, though, still weren't very happy about their homework.

''F-four to five pages? But you can't, it's so unfai—'

Rrrring!

The school bells rang, interrupting the young students' disagreement. The short boy jerked his head back towards his smirking teacher. His glaring amethyst eyes would've looked intimidating, were it not for the fact that his mouth looked like a face-down 'c'.

''Well look at the time. It seems like it is already time for lunch.'' Ike's head jerked towards the door that just opened to reveal a scruffy face with rolled up sleeves.

''Aren't you kiddos going to scram and stuff some of that dog food down your pie-hole?'' It came out as a question, but it was more or less Snake's way to say 'Get the hell out of here'.

''Whatever.'' Roy stretched his limbs. Feeling a few satisfying pops, he turned around and started to walk out the door. ''So what kind of _dog food _do you guys think we get today?'' Roy spoke louder than necessary, making Snake raise an eyebrow.

When the room was cleared and the only two left were Snake and Ike, the older one of the two cleared his throat.

''There are a few things I want to talk about with you. Is that okay with you?'' Ike did not like the expression on Snake's face, not at all.

''Sure, fire away.'' Anxiousness' hand had a firm grip on both of the men's heads, and both of them would have liked if that hand had loosened its grip, even if it was just the tiniest bit.

''Well, first it's about one of the students, more specifically, Link.'' For just a fraction of a second, Ike's blue eyes widened, and his face told everybody who saw him about his worry.

* * *

><p>The four teenagers were sitting at one of the numerous tables in the enormous cafeteria. Each one of them was eating their own different type of 'dog food'.<p>

''How can you people eat at this moment?'' Roy was hunched over and turned away from the rest of the boys.

A smug smile crept itself onto Link's face. He took up his plastic fork, skewered the cut-up chicken piece, and brought it forth so it was a few centimeters from his mouth. ''Like this.'' The little piece of chicken disappeared, and at the same time a fake moan came from Link's throat, taunting Roy's ears. The blonde's satisfied smile gave a great contrast to the grim look on Roy's face.

''You're doing this just because I forgot my wallet today, aren't you?'' The smile he saw on his peer's lips was more than enough to tell him, but his ears were going to get the same message too.

''Perhaps.'' That taunting voice, the mocking tone; sarcasm was literally dripping out of Link's mouth, and it burned Roy's ears.

The redhead felt like saying something snarky in return, but he refrained himself from it. Every time someone barked at Link, well, he didn't bark back. No, he would bite back with such force you would be too shocked to do anything for a few seconds, and after that no one would dare to say anything back to him.

''Geez, what's with that face? Did Ike give you an F…again?'' Link brought the small carton of milk to his puckered lips.

''Nun, zumindest ich bin kein Schwuler.''

''What did you say?'' Eidetic memory or not, Link had never learned German. He knew a few words here and there, but the whole language, no thanks.

''Oh you know, something foreign.'' Roy waved his hands in a dismissive manner. When being taught German, his father's best friend Hector was demanding, but it was all worth it just to see the puzzled look he got from people's faces.

Link shook his head and started gulping down the rest of his milk, while Roy went back to his assignment. The others were eating their lunch, and mildly amused expressions were plastered on their faces.

''You do know that there are still five days until we _have _to deliver it? Four to five pages is nothing. You can do this in a few hours.'' Marth's fingers reached for one of the corners of his pudding cup. Swiftly tearing the plastic from the small cup, he dug a small spoon into the sweet little treat made of milk, sugar, eggs and most importantly, chocolate.

Pit kept eyeing Marth's dessert. Not willing to let the little treat for the eyes go, he continued speaking with his face turned the other way. ''Well, you can start writing your assignment now and have it for 'Mr. Three-seconds-or-three-hours-late-is-late'...Or you can do what Marth just said: watch as all the others eat and risk failing in English. That means you'd have to go to summer school. Your choice.'' By the look of Roy's face, it didn't seem like it was a choice.

''Okay, okay...Mar—how the fuck do I spell—garitas?''

For Roy, German=no problem. English=problem.

* * *

><p>Dark blue eyes scanned the sheet of paper that was held in front of them. The eyes hidden behind glasses became more and more tired as each line was read and each correction written down mentally. How does a boy who could speak at least two languages fluently write English so badly? He spoke it everyday!<p>

The redhead even suggested a song for Ike to hear. He tried to restrain his curiosity, telling himself that it was probably just some kind of joke from the young student. But his curiosity got the better of him, and he looked it up. Of course it was in German—what else should he have expected? Strangely enough, the song wasn't as bad as he expected. Actually, it was a good song. He had to look up the lyrics later—well actually, he had to look up the translation. What was the name of that song again? Oh right, it was ''_Mann Gegen Mann_''. Too bad he didn't find a music video; it would've probably helped him understand the meaning of the song.

A quick glance on the calendar, made for him from his sister Mist, told him it was Thursday and he still had one more day until he could take the weekend off.

The glasses were taken off of his nose; his hands reached up to rub his eyes and pinch where the thin glasses had resided just a moment ago. It was much more difficult to correct and grade a written product from a student than most people thought, regardless of how old or skilled said student was.

His eyes wandered over to the calendar made just for him; his sister was sometimes too kind. Her words echoed inside his head when he first received it.

_Here, take this. _Mist had shoved a thinly wrapped-up present in his hands. _Open! I made it just for you._

_What is this?_Ike started to tear the thin paper wrapped around his present. Beneath the paper was...More paper? No, it was thicker and had 'The Greil Family' written on it. It was a...calendar? He opened it to see how it looked, and the broadest smile graced his lips.

_T-these are the pictures from the family photo album._

_Do you like it? I got some help from dad getting the photos._

_I love it, but..._

Worry placed itself onto Mist's face. Was something wrong?

_But what?_Her head cocked to the side as her eyebrows started to point up.

_This calendar is off. Two years to be exact, and it starts in August._ Ike was looking at a picture of a younger version of him trying to cover his face. He remembered that day very well; it was the first day he had to wear glasses. He wasn't particularly fond of the thought, to say the least.

_Oh, Ike. Don't you know what happens in August in two years?_

_No. Is it something special? And why is August so importa—ow!_Mist had just hit the back of his head, and she was staring at him like he had just said or done something very stupid.

_Sometimes I can't believe you. Hello! It will be your first day as a fully educated teacher, sheesh. Are you getting senile already?_

_Oh come on! I'm still in my early twenties. And I am not senile; I simply forgot._

_Well, it doesn't matter. This calendar will remind you of that day and—_Mist threw her arms around Ike's abdomen in a tight hug. A slightly robotic voice interrupted, informing that her plane was leaving in ten minutes.

—_it will remind you of your family._

Ike tore his eyes away from the calendar. The embarrassing picture of him and his way too big glasses was not in his sight; instead, it was showing a picture taken one summer when he was about thirteen. Boyd was holding him in a headlock while giving him a noogie. The adults tried to reach for Boyd, while the younger kids only laughed, Mist included.

A knock on the door woke Ike up from his memories. Two knocks made him turn his head and face to whomever was standing in the doorway of his office.

Blond hair, blue eyes, and a backpack slung lazily over one shoulder.

''Hey. Would you mind if I hang out in your office for a while?'' Link's body refused to move before he got an answer. His blue eyes were hoping—no _pleading_—for permission to walk in. Why was Link so desperate?

''Umm. Yeah sure, come on in.'' Ike couldn't help but give a small smile. By coming to his office and asking for such a thing, Link showed that he trusted him, at least to a certain extent.

''You can sit on that chair.'' Ike put his glasses back on. He had to finish correcting the essays he had gotten in today. So far it didn't seem like anyone was getting an A, but there were only a few people who got A's in his subjects.

Link took out his cellphone and started texting. Ike raised an eyebrow at this action, and a crooked smile graced his lips.

''Oh come on. The bell has already rung, so technically it's not school now.'' Ike returned his attention to the sheet of paper in his hands; Link took that action as a sign of approval.

An awkward silence fell between them.

Ike leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixated on one particular point on the paper. Link looked up from the tiny screen in his hands out of curiosity.

Ike noticed Link's attention was now drawn to him, and he knew why. He should satisfy the boy's curiosity as fast as he could.

''Magrehtisas.'' A low chuckle came from Ike as he quickly came to the conclusion that the hotheaded redhead was going to get a few points taken for all of his misspelled words.

Link shook his head at his teacher's weird sense of humor. He had a dry sense of humor, too, even though Roy didn't classify it as humor at all.

''So why aren't you going home like everyone else? Or do you want to talk?'' Ike spoke while writing a capitalized C- on the top right corner of Roy's essay.

''No.'' The blonde boy put his cellphone back in his pockets, avoiding his teacher's gaze at the same time. When he lifted his head, Ike was sitting right next to him with worry written all over his face. How and when did he come so close? Link's eyes drifted to the chair Ike was sitting on, or more specifically, the chair's feet. Well, more like the lack of feet—of course it had to have wheels on it.

There were those dark blue eyes, telling him 'Don't lie to me Link; I know when you're telling the truth and when you're not.' But it wasn't the only thing they said. They said something more, something he hadn't seen in a long time.

For a split second Ike could see everything. He didn't have all the facts, black on white, but he had something.

Ike could feel his body temperature rising; his heart started beating even faster, he forgot to breath a few seconds, and most importantly, he wasn't able to tear his own eyes away from Link's blue ones.

Suddenly, Link's cellphone made a short peep, signalizing that he had just gotten a new text message. Ike removed his hand; he didn't even realize he had gripped the young student's upper-arm.

Link took up his cellphone, and his eyes swiftly scanned the short message.

''I-I should go.'' Link picked up his backpack and started to run for the door, but before he left, he looked over his shoulder. ''Thanks for letting me stay at your office.''

Ike watched the blond boy until he was out of sight. An empty feeling started to consume him.

What had just happened?

* * *

><p>''Why didn't you deliver your essay today? You've finished writing it, so why not?'' Marth brushed his hand through his hair, exhaustion still gripping his body after their gym class.<p>

''I just want to ensure that everything is grammatically correct. And are you still tired from gym?'' A hint of a laugh was evident in Link's voice, but only in the last sentence.

''Yeah. Still tired, Lowell?'' Pit taunted as he struggled to walk in the same pace as his slightly taller classmates.

''Pfft! Well at least I actually _jogged _during the cooper test and didn't have Ike mocking me almost the entire time. I would've copied what he did, but I don't feel like dirtying my pants today.'' Marth started smiling as Pit's fell.

That man had a twisted sense of humor. How was he allowed to be a teacher, again? In gym they had another cooper test. Pit did not feel like jogging for twelve minutes straight, so he had walked almost the entire time. Ike had noticed this and tried to encourage him to start jogging—his way. The young man had dropped to his knees and started walking right beside Pit. ''It's the same pace.'' The second that mocking tone had hit his ears, annoyance spread itself throughout Pit's body, leaving an unpleasant sensation for him to feel. He had quickly started to pick up the pace as he saw that his teacher was halfway down to start crawling next to him._''What is wrong with this guy?''_Pit had thought as his expression said the exact same thing.

A laugh came from Roy as Pit's expression grew visibly grim.

''Well at least I'm not the one who starts running faster in panic as soon as Ike starts clapping his hands together and yells 'Go, go, go!'.'' Pit started to clap his hands rapidly while making his voice deeper, yelling that same word over and over.

''Quit that!'' Roy was about to put the brunette in a headlock, but stopped as soon as he noticed that he and Pit were the only ones who were still walking.

''Oh no.'' Link's face became a mixture of sadness and annoyance. ''Not now.''

As all of them lifted their heads, they instantly knew what Link was referring to; it was 'them' again.

''It's okay. Roy, Pit and I can try to make them go away. You can just go somewhere else in the meantime. I'll text you when they're gone.'' Marth gave a sympathetic smile while squeezing Link's shoulder.

''Mmm...'Kay. Thank you.'' Link turned around and was ready to leave, but something stopped him.

''Hey, aren't you going to thank us?'' Roy had his arms open as a goofy smile was plastered on his face. At the same time Pit was looking at him, wanting a 'thank you' too.

''Heh. You guys too.'' Link kept walking away until he couldn't see any of them.

Now the only problem was this: Where was he supposed to go? He could go behind the school, but last time he did that 'they' found him. He had to go in, but where? If Link decided to just sit in the halls, some teacher would find him and ask him for his reasons for sitting there and not going home. What was he going to do?

_If you ever want to talk, no matter what, you can always talk to me. Even if you just want a hug, don't hesitate coming to me._

Link abruptly stopped right in front of the school's main entrance. It was already kind of awkward the first lesson he had after that little 'incident'. Everyone in the class was there, so he could kind of blend in, but still. And now he was meeting him alone, just the two of them.

Which was worse—meeting Ike again, or having a little 'chat' with 'them'…?

….

_''Ike it is then.''_Link swung open the double-doors, and started walking towards Ike's office.

Meanwhile, in the parking lot Marth, with Pit and Roy stumbling after, was walking confidently towards the two adults who were patiently waiting for a certain blonde to come out and meet them.

When Marth came closer to the adults, he noticed that both of them had aged slightly in their appearance. There were a few gray hairs and some new wrinkles (The wrinkles were probably caused by Link), but other than that, they were just like he remembered them. The true epitome of fake sympathy.

It took almost all of Marth's willpower to not punch one of them in the face and start scolding them both for making his friend's life so much more difficult than it had to be.

''Oh, hi there.'' The fake sweetness from the woman's voice was enough to make Marth nauseous, and by the facial expressions from both Pit and Roy, they could feel it too. ''My, how long it's been since we've seen you, Marth—and Roy too of course. Not too long since we saw Pit, though.''

The man, who had a slight stubble, was about to say something, but Roy interrupted him. The redhead stepped up so he was right in the face of the man. ''If you want to know where Link is, let me tell you something. I know where he is, but I won't tell you because—" the redhead's face had gotten a shade redder out of anger, and he took a deep breath.

''—I don't _trust you_!'' Roy made a mad dash down the street, and Pit swiftly started to follow him. Both of them were laughing out of sheer mirth. Revenge wasn't a healthy thing, but damn it, it felt really good at times…especially it if was for a close friend.

Marth buried his face in his hand in annoyance. Roy was trying to be a good friend, but acting like a complete dumbass wasn't helping.

''I think I might know where he is.'' Marth was raised better than this. He was above breaking the ethical rules he was taught to follow, but one of these rules—this one was his favorite too—was as follows: Always help a friend in need. And that was exactly what he was going to do. ''He wasn't at school today, so he probably is at home. But the chance is big that he won't answer the door the first time, or the second, or third.''

''Well thank you, anyway. You have certainly grown into a fine young man.'' There was that smile again._''Just relax, Marth, they were worse when you were younger,''_Marth thought to himself.

As he watched the blue, almost black, colored car drive away, he quickly took out his cellphone and started texting.

_To Link:_

_They're gone, but they will be at your house, probably for quite some time.  
>That's my fault, so you can stay at my place until tomorrow.<em>

_Marth_

Not even five minutes later Link was in sight and...Was he running?

''Hey. I didn't keep you waiting, did I?'' Link tried to joke by talking in a slightly playful tone.

''No I didn't—Link, why are you looking so flustered?'' Both of them stopped. Link's face became a shade darker, greatly amusing the bluenette.

''Wha-what? I'm not flustered!'' Link sputtered while raising his hands to cover up his burning cheeks.

''Yes you are. Link, do you have a crush on our teacher, Ike Greil?''

A silence fell between the two friends. Until...

''Pff! Good one! Oh yes I looove Mr. Greil!'' Link waved his arms around in an exaggerating manner, earning a violent laugh from Marth.

''Come here my beautiful student! Let me love you!'' Marth had his arm around Link's waist while his other hand held Link's. They were doing something that resembled like some sort of dance, only more clumsy and less elegant.

''Oh yes! Take me here!'' Link threw his head back while circling both of his arms around Marth's neck. Marth gave a firm squeeze at the smaller boy's rear, making them both almost fall to the ground.

''Oh wow. If Roy or Pit, or anyone for that matter, saw us they would've thought we were crazy.'' Marth spoke with laughter in his voice, hunched over while clutching his stomach.

''We would've probably been sent to an asylum for this.'' Link was rubbing the tears that had appeared during their fits of laughter.

''Well at least we would be together _forever_.'' Marth grasped Link's hand in his own and started to pull him out of the parking lot. ''Come on, let's go to my place. I'll order a pizza when we get there. How does that sound?''

''Great. I'm starving. BUT does the high and mighty President allow himself to eat junk food? In the middle of the week too.'' Link gave a fake gasp in shock, earning him a short laugh from Marth.

''Of course. The President can do anything. Now hurry up before I change my mind, and you have to sleep outside for the night.'' Marth began walking in a moderate pace down the street.

''Yes sir!'' Link saluted before jogging down to catch up to his friend and classmate.

* * *

><p>Ike was sitting in his own little apartment not too far away from his workplace. The apartment was neither too small nor too big; it was just the right size.<p>

On his lap was his own private computer. His curiosity got the best of him, and he had searched up the translation of the song Roy had suggested for him.

A low chuckle emitted from the man's throat. Ike took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

Of course the theme of the song was...

...Homosexuality.

**Author's note:**

I know what you are thinking, and this is what I have to say to it: Even pricks have to act like retards once in a while. No matter what.

But do tell if any of you thought I went too far with this whole Link coming to Ike's office thing. I was thinking if I made Link joke about it, and Ike being all ''What is this? Who did that?'' then it wouldn't be so bad.

Good job if you got all the PewDiePie references. Hope my writing didn't come out weaker because of this. I have always felt that happens if someone makes too many references. No, just no. But that's me. I didn't take anything that pointed it out too much, hopefully.

If you're wondering what Roy said…well, Google it. I'm too lazy. It may not be entirely correct; I asked someone for help on that part. Oh and that song. ''Mann Gegen Mann by Rammstein''.

See you guys next time.

Reviews are appreciated. Thank you very much.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note:**

Oh man. It's been like forever and a day since I last updated...Well actually it's been a few months, but on FF that's like forever and a day.

I've gotten a beta-reader: CrimsonLink. Let's give her an applause people. And with that I have replaced all the other chapters with the ones that have been beta-ed. (Is that what it's called?)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Five<span>

Ike sat on his couch, a broad two-seater, and corrected the remaining essays_.''I should have corrected them all while he still was in his office, so he didn't have to work in the weekend.''_

Well, he'd been correcting and grading essays for little over an hour; Ike felt that he deserved a break from work.

The young man rose to his feet and was about to walk to the apartment's kitchen, but a thought interrupted him. One of the alternative names for the two-seater came to his mind.

Loveseat.

How ironic. Already in his twenties, he had a decent paying job, an okay home, a stable lifestyle...What was he thinking? He was still in his early twenties. He practically had his whole life in front of him. Well, minus the twenty-two years he'd already lived.

Ike came back to his living room with a cup of coffee in his hand. He walked back to one of the gray couches; he sat down and grabbed the next essay in his stack of paper.

At the first glance one could see that this student did not write pretty. It could barely be read, and Ike could easily recognize whose messy handwriting this was.

Link.

Ike saw that the young boy's handwriting was even messier than normal. He could only draw one conclusion as to why his handwriting looked exactly like that: Link had written this in the middle of the night. When he thought about it, Link did have dark rings under his eyes the day before (Ike himself hadn't gotten much sleep either that day.)

Ike started reading the text thoroughly. He had found little to no grammatical or spelling errors, but there was one thing that bothered him. Link had written absolutely nothing about his family—there was, of course, a mention of a cat someplace in the text. But wasn't it normal to mention at least one parent if one were to write an essay about a day in their life, especially at their age.

Well, Link wasn't exactly a 'normal' kid, but who was? When you took into consideration the class he attended, he might not have seemed strange at all.

But most, if not everyone else, had written something about their family. It really bothered Ike.

He took a sip of his coffee; it was strong, just how Ike liked it.

There was that one theory that had been wandering around his head since he saw those people at the parking lot, but now it was practically running around in his head. It was still just a theory, but one thing was now for certain: Link had problems with his family.

Ike leaned himself onto the back of the couch, releasing a frustrated sigh. Why was he thinking so much about him? There was something, but Ike couldn't put his finger on it. What could it be? What could it be? No way, could it be tha—

A low, but clearly heard, tune invaded Ike's ears.

''Hello? Ike speaking. Who's there?'' A blue cellphone was pressed up onto Ike's ear.

''Oh, hey there, Greil Junior.'' A deep voice chuckled.

''Snake, what do you want?''

''First of all, I still find it amazing that you've managed this class. Every other teacher who has tried couldn't last for longer than twenty minutes before they wanted to kill each and every student-''

''Get to the point, old man.'' Ike interrupted. He wanted a break from correcting the essays, but this wasn't the exact thing he had in mind.

''We're going to start planning the student's night soon. Actually, we're going to start planning this on Monday, so you have to come to work an hour earlier than usual.'' Ike could hear the smile in the older man's voice.

''Ah-ha...'' Ike used a flat tone when responding to Snake. He smirked, knowing that showing little to no reaction when the old man tried to tease you would definitely tick him off.

''Well...so—"

''Why am I not annoyed?'' Ike interrupted; Snake went silent as soon as the younger male spoke.

''Well, you know. During all my years of training and education to becoming a teacher, and because of the sheer fact of who my family is, there shouldn't really be a question whether I wake up early or not. Am I right?''

''Pfft, killjoy. Well, see you tomorrow. Bye.'' Snake hung up, and Ike was left alone with his thoughts yet again—but not before he managed throw in a little 'Don't forget to stay sober, then' to the old man.

Ike put his reading glasses back on, and continued to read and analyze the messy writing made by his young student. He wrote a capitalized 'A-' and put in a small comment at the end of the essay that said he wanted Link to tell a little more about what happened to him after school in his home.

Ike wasn't being nosy...Was he?

* * *

><p>''Stop that.''<p>

''Why?'' Roy looked up at the older man looking angrily down at him.

''Because it's not allowed. Samus and Snake might not care too much, but I do. You're_ my_ students and you will follow the rules.'' Ike crossed his arms across his chest, looking down at Roy.

''Seriously. This is a stupid rule, just like the one where we're not allowed to wear caps and hats indoors.'' Roy leaned back, making his chair stand on its two back feet.

''Stop rocking on your chair or you won't have a chair at all.'' The redheaded boy started laughing, along with the rest of the class.

But the laughter soon died out when they saw that their teacher's expression hadn't changed from unamused.

''I'm serious.''

Two words. Two_ words_ silenced the entire class.

Roy stopped rocking his chair back and forth, and put it back on all four feet.

A tiny smile settled itself on Ike's lips; he knew that Roy would forget and start rocking on his chair again.

After half an hour, Roy's chair tilted back on two legs again. He quickly tried to put his chair back down before Ike could notice...However…

''Chair. Put it in front of your desk.'' The teacher pointed at the spot on the floor right in front of Roy's desk.

''You've got to be kidding me.'' The gray chair was now in front of the small wooden desk. ''Where am I supposed to sit now?'' Roy felt like an idiot standing behind his desk with no chair, and having the entire class staring at him.

''Isn't it obvious? The floor.'' Ike waited for the hotheaded redhead to either sit down on his knees or butt; Roy sat down and he was barely able to look over his desk.

For the rest of the lesson Roy sat on the floor, getting a few taunts from Pit, irritation _and_ humiliation building up inside him. He could hardly wait for lunch to come. When lunch finally arrived, he was clearly told that his punishment was far from over.

''Oh, and Roy.''

The redheaded teenager turned around to look at his teacher. His back hurt after not being allowed to sit properly for almost an hour.

''You'll be sitting on the floor for the rest of the day.''

Roy felt like walking up to Ike and punching him right in the face. However, an arm around his elbow pulled him out of the room before he could even give that sarcastic jerk a single glare.

''Don't do it, Roy. You_ will_ regret it.'' Pit continued to pull the now angry redhead towards the school's cafeteria.

''Somehow I doubt it.'' Roy said unusually calmly back.

The two students walked into the cafeteria, mindless and meaningless chatter filling their ears. They both got their food and started looking for a free table they could sit on. Even though they wasted no time getting to the cafeteria, it was still a crowded place. They eventually found a rather large table and rejected anyone who asked if they could sit down with them.

''Hey. Have any of you guys heard about the Student's Night?'' Link sat down next to Roy—without asking first, of course.

''Don't know, don't care.'' Roy waved his fork in the rhythm of his words.

''Well _I _know, and _I _care.'' Marth slumped down, right next to Pit.

''Well you're the freaking President, so you have to care,'' Roy snapped back. Marth jumped at the harsh tone the redhead had.

''Sheesh! What's wrong with you today? Oh wait. Don't tell me; it's because Ike made you sit on the floor, right?'' Marth shook his head in disapproval, even though his voice had a teasing undertone.

Roy picked up Marth's tone and responded by flipping him off, a smile returning to his face for that one second.

''Anyways!'' Link interrupted, ''Marth, why don't you tell us what _you_ know about the Student's Night?'' The blonde leaned forth and put his hand under his chin.

Marth seemed pleased with his friend's question, and he started to immediately tell all three of his peers sitting on the table everything he knew about the upcoming event.

''And? That's it? You do realize this will be just like last year. You guys remember when Snake got drunk.'' Roy started to laugh when he remembered the first time he had seen that old man throw his jacket away and dance in front of everyone in the room.

''Yeah, I remember,'' Pit joined in, ''I remember particularly that when old man Snake tired himself out, he started hitting on Link. And it was all because at that time Link had longer hair, and his hair was similar to Samus'.'' Both Pit and Roy started to laugh as loud as they could. Marth tried to conceal his laughter by hiding his mouth from Link's view with his hand.

''Yeah! You decided to cut off that ponytail you had then. How long was it again? That thing reached your lower back or something, right Link?'' Roy started to playfully nudge Link's arm, much to the blonde's chagrin.

''Oh, shut up. S'not my fault that the old geezer's not only a pervert, but also a pedophile.'' Link huffed. He wasn't fond of the memory of Snake burying his face in Link's flat chest and grabbing his ass at the same time while continuously half-singing''Samus, Samus my lil' Samus~''

However, the laughter coming from his friends did not die down. Instead, it only got louder to the point that Link couldn't take it anymore; he decided to leave, taking a bottle of water with him.

''Screw you guys! I'm leaving!'' The fuming blonde left the large cafeteria.

Link was walking through the empty hallways, caught up in his own thoughts. Most of them were about how stupid his classmates were, who were probably still sitting in the cafeteria and laughing over his humiliation.

_''Goddamn stupid assholes. They were too caught up in making fun of me that none of them discovered the error in my statement. Pedophilia is defined as having primary sexual interest in prepubescent children from the age 13 and down. The term Ephebophilia would've been correct, actually.''_

Caught up in his thought, Link almost missed the young adult sitting in one of the many staircases. Almost.

''Hey. What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the cafeteria with the other students?''

''I was about to ask you myself. Why aren't you in the Teacher's lounge with the other teachers?''

Ike motioned Link to sit down next to him.

''So...Why aren't you in the cafeteria with the others?'' Ike took a sip out of his coffee cup.

''Can't a guy choose to be other places than the cafeteria?'' Link uncorked the plastic water bottle in his hands.

''When it's lunch? What's the real reason?'' Ike put the now empty coffee mug right next to himself on the step he was sitting on. He turned around so he could look directly at his young student.

''Okay, okay; I'll tell. Just stop looking at me like that. Heh.'' Link rested his head on his knuckles.

''Roy and Pit were just acting like idiots, and they managed to get Marth at it too.''

''Well...What was it about?'' Link turned around in surprise. Had Ike always been this perceptive? ''I mean, Marth isn't the one to easily pick up on Roy and Pit's humor...Well, he isn't the one to pick up humor at all, but-''

''Last year,'' Link interrupted, ''It was about Student's Night last year.''

''Ah, I see. Samus told me about that. She called him a pervert and a pedophile...You know, in retrospect, the term Ephebophilia would have been more accurate.'' Ike gave a quick glance at his wristwatch. His attention was quickly drawn to the smaller male sitting next to him, who was...laughing?

''Heheh...It's certain now. You_ are_ my favorite teacher.'' Link said with a small smile plastered on his lips.

The bell rang as soon as Link finished his statement. The teenager was about to stand up, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

Ike looked down at Link, affection showing in his eyes and a warm smile on his lips.

''Link...I really hope you sued him for sexual harassment.'' With that, Ike got to his feet and started walking down the hallway. Students and teachers had begun crowding the halls, so Link lost sight of his teacher.

_''Huh? W-what is this?''_

Link clutched the front of his own t-shirt.

What was that empty feeling he felt? The blonde boy wondered what that disheartening feeling was. It couldn't be...

...Disappointment.

* * *

><p>''Excuse me, but…what did you say?''<p>

''What! You didn't hear me? I said dance. You should go to a doctor and get your ears checked.''

''I heard what you said, but...are you serious? You sure you're not insane and should have been put in an asylum several years ago?'' Ike glared at Roy for mocking his sanity. He was perfectly sane...to a certain degree.

''Okay, but it seems like there are too many boys for it to work.'' Ike looked over the class. They were all lined up, with the boys to the left and girls to the right.

''Does that mean I don't have to dance?'' Pit asked hopefully. The young brunette was not particularly fond of the idea of dancing a partner dance.

''No. It means that two of you boys have to take the woman's part and dance with another boy.

So...Any volunteers?'' Ike clapped his hands together, looking at the line of boys for a volunteer or two.

And as expected, no one volunteered.

''If no one volunteers, I have to pick out someone randomly.''

Roy, almost sure he would be one of them who would be picked out 'randomly', started to feel desperate. As if he would want to be the girl in the dance!

"Hey Ike. Pit volunteer—" Roy raised his arm.

''Great! How nice of you to volunteer...Roy.'' Roy's smile faltered; he would've lost anyways. Pit was looking angrily at the shocked redhead. How could that jerk sell him out like that so easily?

''Heh. I guess that one was deserved, Roy,'' Link taunted, obviously taking his revenge for what happened in the cafeteria a few days ago.

''Oh, Link. You're volunteering too? Well then, there's no problem. All you guys have to do now is find a dancing partner.'' Ike enjoyed how both the 'volunteers' stood there frozen in both horror and shock.

Roy quickly got out of his frozen mental state and almost launched himself towards Pit.

''I'll take Pit!'' Roy grabbed the surprised brunette's wrist, dragging him to a far-off corner in the large hall.

''Okay. I'll take Mar—'' Link started scooting closer to Marth, but he was interrupted by an arm encircling itself his shoulders.

''I'll have Blondie!'' A deep voice said. The owner of said voice took a hold around Link's elbow and dragged him to another corner before he could protest.

''Well, it seems like everyone's able to find themselves a partner, so I don't have to do a thing,'' Ike said mostly to himself.

''Oi! Ike, are you sure we're supposed to dance? I mean, we are in high school—'' Roy yelled from across the hall, still not happy with his gender-role he would have for the next hour or so.

''I don't know. And frankly, I don't care. It stood on my schedule, so dancing it was.''

Roy was about to complain about how he was not fond of the idea of Pit having his arm around his waist, but the pain-filled scream that cut across the room stopped him from it.

''Ouch! Marth! Stop stepping on my toes!'' A very angry Zelda pushed an apologizing bluenette off of her. ''Ike! Can't you teach Marth how to _not _dance?''

''Well I—'' Ike tried to calm down both of the teenagers, but noise coming from the side interrupted him from doing so.

''Stop that!'' Pit yelled, struggling to maintain the dance they had danced for a few seconds.

''Why?'' Roy was more tense, and his posture was more stiff than usual. He was clearly frowning at the hand around his waist.

''I'm the man, so I lead. Stop leading! You're the woman, now act like one!''

''Well...You can't lead!''

''Doesn't matter! You're the woman! Now take the woman's part in this stupid dance!''

''Bite me!''

''Ike! Roy ain't doing what he's supposed to do!''

Ike pinched the bridge of his nose. Did any of these kids know the steps of this dance? Well, considering he got the confirmation that they did come from Snake, that statement could be questioned. Did Ike have to show them the whole dance step by step?

''Iiiike!''

There was his answer.

Ike turned around to see the other 'temporarily female' half-running in a comical manner towards him. And the blonde teen had the most unamused expression on his face.

''S-sexual harassment!'' Link yelled while pointing accusingly at Dark.

''What makes you think that Dark was sexually harassing you, Link?'' Ike tried to remain as calm as possible. It seemed like Snake had lied, and no one knew the dance before. He would get back at that old man in the near future.

''He grabbed my ass!''

''Geez...You're such a wuss,'' Dark said calmly, walking up to the small group that had been forming.

''Shut up! I want to switch partners!'' Link clenched his fists, stepped up on his toes, and got as close as he could to his teacher's face.

''One question. Do any of you actually know the steps?'' Ike took a hold of Link's shoulder and slowly pushed him down, so he wasn't in his face anymore.

Silence. There were a few 'well's and 'umm's, but not much more than that. It was official; Snake had tricked him.

Ike took a deep breath, killing the annoyed feeling he had inside him. ''Okay. Everybody gather around! I will teach you the steps.'' The students gathered around Ike; some of them still stood in the pairs, some of them didn't.

''Okay, I will need a new volunteer.'' Ike smirked at the grim expression Roy had on his face as soon as he said the word ''volunteer''.

The entire class remained silent.

Ike sighed, ''If no one wants to volunteer, I guess I have to choose someone myself then.'' He grabbed Link's wrist, and pulled him closer.

''First: The boy needs to have a firm grip around the girl's waist.'' Ike had his arm around the smaller male's waist, and he had a firm grip on the hip on the opposite side of him.

''And then you take the girl's hand in yours. And make sure you are holding her hand; that means your hand is supposed to be on the bottom while hers is on top of yours.''

Link could feel his hand being held firmly by his teacher, and his face almost pressed up against Ike's chest.

''Remember now: The firmer grip you have on the girl's waist, thus more control you have.'' Ike demonstrated what he said by leading Link a few steps to the side.

''If the girls let the boys lead, like they're supposed to—'' Ike leaned himself towards Roy's direction, indicating that his words were meant for him, and managed to drag Link along with him. The blonde teen was pressed flush up against the larger man's body. The blood rushed to Link's cheeks.

''—and that makes it so that no one will get their toes stepped on,Zelda.''

The young girl frowned at being pointed out like that.

Ike continued to show all of the steps, even repeating some of them several times, much to Link's chagrin.

''And that's all. Did everyone get it this time?'' Ike asked, still holding Link close.

''Yeah,'' most of the students said in unison.

''Okay. Everyone go get your partners and try out the steps. Oh, and Dark,'' Ike let go of Link's hand, but he still had his arm around the teen's waist, leading him towards the dark haired teen, ''Here's your partner back.''

Dark bowed down while taking Link's hand in his own. ''My lady.'' Dark kissed the back of the slightly shorter teen's hand. Annoyed, Link flicked the taller teen's nose, just like the way one would do to one's cat if it had done something bad.

''Oww...'' Dark cupped his nose, protecting it from the blonde teen.

''Well, it seems like you two will manage.'' Ike couldn't help but feel a twinge of...some kind of negative emotion.

_''Why?''_ Link stood alone in the school's parking lot, thinking back about the entire day.

_''What was that feeling? That empty feeling I felt when he walked away—''_Link's thoughts got interrupted by a hand landing on his shoulder.

''What's up, Blondie?'' Dark's arm snaked its way around the smaller teen's neck.

''Hnn? Oh, nothing much.'' Link looked out towards the parking lot, not seeming to mind how close Dark was to him.

''So...You wanna stay with me this weekend? The old man is out of town, so there won't be anyone else but you and me.'' Dark started walking, dragging Link with him in the process.

''I don't know...''

''Heh.'' The dark haired teen couldn't help but laugh at how reluctant Link was, even though they were walking towards his house. ''I will be making the food...from scratch. And you don't have to do a thing—not that I would let you. 'Cause we all know what kind of disaster you are in the kitchen.''

''Shut up. Fine, I'll go.'' Link tried to push the taller teen away, but he refused to budge.

''Great! Oh and before I forget, you're pretty close friends with Marth, right?'' Link nodded in response. Dark continued, ''Has he told you anything about Student's Night?''

''Yeah, he did. He talked about it, a little too much if you ask me.''

''Well. Do pray tell,'' Dark said in an exaggerated posh voice, a small hint of Marth put into it.

''Fine, but only if I get to decide what to eat when we get to your house.''

''Deal,'' Dark responded with his arm still slung around Link's shoulders.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

I was thinking of moving Ike and Link's relationship a step forward, but I was advised not to...So instead I have to come up with something new to put in chapter Six. If it weren't for the fact that I can just be like:

''Damn it. I had chapter six planned out, but now I have to make chapter six completely different...Oh! That's a great idea! That's a great way for Ike and Link to bond. Thank you brain.''

Now I just have to write it...

Thank you guys for reading. Hope you liked this chapter, and this story so far. And if you feel like it please leave a review.

Reviews are my fuel!


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note:**

Long time no see. Well... at least it's better than the last time. And I have an excuse this time around. I've been in Japan for the last three weeks, so there. Okay it's not that good of a reason, but at least it's a reason.

Also I have to ask you, I'm going to change the title. That's okay right? It will be changed to ''Life is a Highway''. You know, after the song. But I won't change it before one week has gone, so people won't get too confused. But just state your opinion about the change if you want.

Anyways onwards. (To Narnia!)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Six<span>

''Oh man...'' Pit looked out the window; it was _pouring_ outside.

''_I know. It's raining cats and dogs now_,'' Marth whispered, not wanting to disturb the lesson more than necessary.

''Cats and dogs? But rain is liquid water in the form of droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then precipitated—that is, become heavy enough to fall under gravity. Not mammals dropping from the clouds.'' Pit corrected, talking a little too loud for wanting no one to notice.

''Pit, ''Raining cats and dogs'' is an idiom, a metaphor. It's not something to be interpreted literally.'' Marth had dropped the whispering and spoke in full voice.

Smack!

Both Pit and Marth almost leaped out of their seats. Snake had smacked both of his hands down on the two students' desks.

''Lowell, Icarus. What is it that is so important that you need to disturb the entire class?'' Snake said, irritation evident in his voice.

''Well, uh, you see,'' Pit managed to get forth, ''it's raining outside.'' He pointed at the window, showing dark gray clouds which showered the earth with water.

''Why thank you, Mr. Icarus, for the useful information. Was that it? Or would you like to point out that there's a blackboard on the wall, or a desk right in front of you?'' During his short rant, Snake made a gesture to each of the objects he mentioned.

Pit had a mixture of confusion, shock and fear written all over his face. ''N-no. I'm okay...''

''Good.'' Snake straightened up and started to speak louder.''O-kay...That is the homework for the rest of the week. Make sure you deliver it within this week...You can all go now.'' The older man shooed the class away, out of the classroom.

Snake stared out the window. ''The kid's right—it _is _raining mammals,'' he mumbled to himself.

''You said something, old man Snake?'' Pit poked his head through the doorway, scaring his teacher.

''Agh! Don't do that, recruit!'' Snake whipped around to face the smaller brunette, putting his hands behind his back out of habit. Straight back, feet parallel, hands behind back and chest puffed out; it made Snake look like a true man of the military.

''I believe it would be nearly impossible for me to be recruited to the military. Especially with the training program they have now.'' Pit lazily started looking around the medium sized room.

''How do you know about the training program? It's supposed to not be revealed to the public.'' Snake looked suspiciously at his student.

''I-I don't!'' Pit yelled out suddenly. He coughed a few times before straightening up, copying Snake's posture before giving a huge smile. ''So what about them 'mammals'? I've heard that they will be raining for the rest of the week.''

''I've read that it will be a little colder than usual, too...'' An awkward silence followed after Snake's statement. ''…This is why I don't like making small talk,'' he said and walked out of the room.

Waiting a few seconds, Pit looked down the hallway his teacher had gone through and made sure Snake was far enough ahead. He casually made his way towards the teacher's desk.

''Oh, would you look at that!'' Pit said in mock surprise. ''We're having a yet-to-be-announced test next week. I sure hope the old man hasn't laid the answer in this desk...'' He began rummaging through the compartments, putting the contents aside. Until...

''Aha! Now what do we have here—answers, for me? Oh no, you shouldn't have! 'Kay thank you! Love ya!'' Pit laughed while casually walking out of the room.

Time to send out a few e-mails.

* * *

><p>The rain was constantly hitting him, soaking his hair, making it cling onto his face.<p>

''Did you forget to bring an umbrella today?'' Marth asked, holding a dark blue umbrella in his hand.

''No, of course not. That's why I'm soaking wet from top to bottom.'' Link retorted sarcastically.

''I wish I had a spare umbrella, but I don't. You have a ride home, or are you going to beat up someone random and steal their umbrella?'' Marth smiled, still dry as the desert.

''I'll survive. By the way, Pit was walking home with a plastic bag on his head.'' Link dismissed Marth's concern (which was hidden in a joke) and started walking home.

''But he lives only a few blocks away!'' Marth yelled after his peer.

Marth's voice could be heard through the parking lot, and it caught the attention of some of the adults who were still present.

''Sheesh! You guys are so lazy. Didn't you get training in the military?'' Samus spoke in disapproval.

''What? Don't hate on us just because _you_ don't have a car.'' Snake held a newspaper over his head, shielding his hair from the rain.

''Well, I think that both Snake and I got more than enough training there for the rest of our lives...Even though I'm a gym tea—... God damn it...'' Ike was leaning on his own car.

''Say, Ike. How do you have a car? It's not _that _long since you were a student yourself. How could you afford it?'' Samus questioned, looking at her colleagues' cars, a little angered by that.

''A graduation gift from my entire family.'' Ike smiled, proudly patting the roof of his car.

''_Pssh...Kids these days..._You know, when I was your age I didn't just _get_ a car from my family—_well one of my brothers was a wuss anyway._ I had to work my ass off to finally afford to get one myself.'' Snake started ranting; despite being only in his thirties, he acted like a man in his sixties.

With a quick good-bye, Samus started her travel towards her small apartment.

''Hey...Is that Li—'' Ike tried to say, but was interrupted by his old mentor.

''Don't. Even. Go there, Greil.'' Snake punctuated almost each and every word, making sure his younger peer got the idea into that thick skull of his.

''Oh come on. Look at him! He'll catch a cold in no time. Besides, what's the worst that can happen?'' Ike put his arms around himself. Not only was it raining, but it was starting to get really cold too.

''Well, the last time someone interfered with his business...Hmm. Well, let's say that it wasn't pretty.'' Snake pulled out and lit up a cigarette. ''Just leave it. Unless it's absolutely necessary, don't ask him about what's happening outside of school.'' The older man took a long drag of his cigarette. He felt that he had said what Ike needed to know, and there was no need for him to linger here any longer.

''Well that doesn't tell me mu...ch... Fine, just leave without letting me speak back. I don't need the last word. I'm not a woman.'' Ike muttered more to himself than to Snake.

Ike started the car engine, and he could feel the warmth coming from the heater core. He couldn't help but feel bad for the blonde teenager who had to walk out in the rain.

Why was he so worried?

* * *

><p>''Dude, you okay?'' Roy put a comforting hand on Link's back.<p>

''No, I'm not okay.'' Slumped over, sweaty and with glazed over eyes, Link felt so terrible that he didn't even bother to make a snarky remark.

''Maybe you should go home.'' Pit sat on the floor next to his friends, all of them waiting for the bell to ring.

''I'll be fine.'' Link waved them off, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. ''Where's Marth?''

''He's visiting family in the fancy part of the world. Did you forget? Oh wait. You _never _forget.'' Roy joked, hoping to get a sarcastic response back.

''...Oh...'' Link responded meekly.

''_I think the fever is messing with his brain._'' Pit whispered to Roy. He attentively returned to see if Link was making any sort of response to the things Roy or he said. No, not even a single 'fuck you'.

Link was really, _really _sick.

The bell rang, signalizing to each and every student that it was time to go to the classrooms.

All of the students found their seats and sat down, backs straight (well, as straight as one would expect from teenagers), heads up. Well, everyone except for a certain blonde who had his head buried in his crossed arms.

''Are you okay?'' a voice said. Link really did not care; he just wanted to fall asleep and wake up in his bed on a peaceful Saturday morning. He wanted the sun hitting his face, gently waking him up, and just lying in bed, relaxing a few minutes and getting up when he felt necessary. He would put on a pair of really baggy pants and one of his father's old shirts —which almost reached his knees—and walk down and make himself some breakfast. He wanted a call from Pit saying that he had to turn on one of his consoles and put in a specific game, then playing that one game for a few hours in co-op mode. Then he'd probably tell the brunette that he had to make lunch and that they could meet up later—perhaps in the park by that bench under the largest tree.

Roy and Marth had to be there too, and maybe Red, if he was up to it. They'd go to the movies, or maybe go to one of the cafés Marth had always recommended. Then he'd go home, take a shower, make dinner, eat it, go to bed, and lay awake a few minutes, only to fall into a deep sleep only the morning sun could wake him up from.

The night from Saturday to Sunday, he always slept the heaviest. Perhaps it was his brain telling him, 'Your life sucks. Do something with it; don't run away.'

Who knew?

''Do you want to call your parents and ask them to pick you up?'' someone asked.

''No, and no...I was answering both questions, if you were wondering,'' Link mumbled into the desk.

''He's got a really bad fever. It's so bad that he hasn't even made a single sarcastic comment. I'm worried.'' Who was that? Was it Pit or Roy? It had to be one of them. Marth was gone, and Red usually came to class about five minutes too late.

''Okay, that's it. I'm driving you home.'' A strong arm circled itself around his mid-section, and forced him to stand up.

''Nooo...Don't wanna...Nnngh, five more minutes.'' Link's legs started to give in, so Ike was forced to grab the wobbly teen's belt to make sure he didn't fall to the ground.

Ike fished for the phone in his pocket. He scrolled down his contact list until he landed on the letter ''S''. He gave one last warning glance to the class that said ''Be quiet''.

''Hey, I need a favor.'' Ike struggled to hold the sleepy teen standing up; it seemed like Link wanted to lie down on the ground.

''Ike? What's up?''

''I have to drive one of the students home. They're not feeling well. Could you cover for me while I'm gone?''

'' 'Kay. I'll be there in five.''

''You're a lifesaver, Samus.'' Ike hung up and started to go out of the room, dragging Link along.

When Ike turned around, he was met with a handful of curious stares. With a sigh he said in a low but commanding voice, '' Behave,'' and turned around.

Out in the parking lot, Ike still had a firm grip around Link's mid-section, but he had managed to sling the half-asleep teen's arm around his neck for further support.

''Nnnh...S'cuse me...Gotta puke.'' Link managed to get away before he threw himself over a nearby fence.

Meanwhile, Ike started searching for a tissue, so Link could wipe his mouth free of vomit.

Ike stroked the blonde's back soothingly while he spit out the remainders of his breakfast.

He knew it. He should have ignored Snake's warning and given the boy a ride home. But what had been done was done; he couldn't change the past.

Ike wiped Link's mouth clean, letting him spit a few times first in order to get rid of that awful taste of half-digested food and stomach acid.

'' S'not necessary. You don't have to do this,'' Link mumbled. If it wasn't for the sheer fact that Ike stood so close to the boy he wouldn't have heard it.

''It's okay, since you didn't want your parents to pick you up. The least I can do is drive you home.''

* * *

><p>Link clumsily searched for the key to his house, raiding each and every pocket on his clothing .<p>

''Here.'' The blonde held a pair of silver colored keys in his hands. They swayed back and forth, back and forth. But it wasn't in a taunting way; it was more like a 'take-them-before-I-pass-out' kind of way, so Ike quickly snagged the keys out of his hands.

The older male left Link alone for just a few seconds for him to open the door...And when he returned, the sick teenager was already asleep. Now he had no other choice but to carry the sleeping boy in.

Ike had to figure out the most comfortable way for Link to be carried back into his house. Only one way came into his mind:

Bridal-style.

He could feel the blood rush through his body and up to his cheeks. Holding Link's body so close to his own...

Ike took a deep breath, calming the pulse that had apparently sped up during his internal debate.

And by one step at a time, Link was cuddled up in Ike's arms by no time.

When Ike walked into the small house, he couldn't help but notice the eerie silence that surrounded the entire room he was currently in. It felt like something was missing, but he didn't know what.

Link, still being carried in his arms bridal-style, groaned just as if he had been waken up from a pleasant dream—and he probably was.

''Where are your parents?'' Ike felt it was okay to ask a question now, since the boy was already awake.

''Mmm...Not here, as you can see,'' Link mumbled, subconsciously snuggling his head into the crook of Ike's neck, a gesture which made the older man stiffen for a second. ''I wanna go to bed...''

And that's what they did. Ike carried Link's limp body up the stairs—after Link had pointed out the directions, of course—and into the bedroom.

''So...Do you have someone to take care of you since...well, your parents aren't here?'' Ike asked himself the same question he asked himself a few days ago: Was he nosy? He wasn't, was he?

Link lay down on his bed, his back facing Ike. ''Mnngh... Marth can watch over me...'' He mumbled while snuggling his face into the pillow.

''Marth is gone for about a week.'' Ike answered back.

''Then I'll ask Pit, or Roy...'Night.'' Link was about to go right back to sleep, but...

''I wouldn't be able to trust them enough to take care of a sick plant, much less a sick person. I'm keeping the key you gave me.'' Ike had the mentioned key in the palm of his hand, and showed it to Link (who had turned around during Ike's short critic about Pit and Roy's ability to take care of something. Anything).

''Huh...? No!'' Link reached for the key, but Ike brought them out of the teen's reach in the last second.

''No parents and no Marth means that you have no one else to take care of you.'' Ike put the keys in one of the pockets of his pants and started to walk back towards the door.

''What about—''

''And no Pit, and no Roy.'' Ike used his more authoritative tone. He did not raise his voice, for he didn't have to. And he was also thinking about the headache Link complained about on the trip to his home.

When he didn't hear an answer, Ike turned around and started walking down the stairs. Standing downstairs in the hallway, he flipped up his cellphone and texted Samus, saying that he had to be gone for the rest of the day.

His eyes scanned the room. They eventually found the kitchen, so his legs set towards the brightly-lit room.

Ike walked towards the empty kitchen, one thought in his mind:

_''Why am I doing this?''_

He tried to push that thought away, focusing instead on the task he gave himself—with or without Link's approval.

* * *

><p>Link woke up from his sleep by a soft clicking sound from his door.<p>

He felt an abnormal smell hit his nostrils. It wasn't an unfamiliar smell, but it was only that this odor was not supposed to be in his bedroom.

Link slowly reached forth and dragged his index finger across the plain porcelain. He was careful to not put too much pressure on his finger because one, the soup in the bowl was probably still hot; and two, he couldn't exactly put much more pressure in his weakened state without exhausting himself.

Link took a deep breath, then another one. First he leaned back on his elbows, then tried to get into a sitting position. When Link finally had gotten himself to actually sit properly, his head began to tilt forward.

''Nnng...No...Don't sleep now, idiot.'' Link muttered to himself. He took a deep breath, fighting back the nausea returning to his body. He lazily looked at the bowl full of soup and groaned in dissatisfaction. ''That food is going to be a bitch to eat...''

When Link finally had managed to force down the food (which was chicken soup, by the way), he felt a little better. Not much, but a little.

Link forced himself up from his bed, dizziness hitting him for a few seconds before he continued on. When he finally managed to get downstairs, his suspicions were confirmed—on his couch lay a very familiar and not-welcome face...

And he was sleeping.

Letting a small sigh escape his lips, the teenager sat down on the chair closest to the sleeping man's face. Link started studying Ike's face, taking in the features; the peaceful expression, the blue hair falling to one side of his face, the nose—especially how the nasal bone and the septal cartilage made a straight line from the tip of his nose and up to the nasion—and the strong jaw.

Hands twitching; twitching fingers wanting run along that strong jaw.

Link quickly shook the thought out of his head. He settled himself for clearing his throat instead, a gesture that made the man he had studied wake up.

''Nnng...Good mornin'.'' Ike mumbled to no one in particular. He looked around the room, a little confused. That is, until his eyes finally landed on the pale teen sitting awfully close to him, wobbling back and forth just a tiny bit.

''Oh! Err… Sorry, I fell asleep apparently, perhaps I should—'' Ike was about to get up from the black leather couch. However...

''Umm...The soup helped a lot...Uhh, well...Thanks.'' An awkward silence befell them, and the atmosphere felt so thick that you could probably cut it with a knife.

Link took a deep breath and started leaning back on the back of the chair. Ike sprang to his seat and grabbed the blonde boy's arms. Hastily, but gently.

''Why don't you lay down on the couch? I can get you something to drink, meanwhile. You can't forget to drink, especially with that fever.'' Ike put the back of his fingers on Link's forehead, still feeling the boy's way-above-average temperature.

''M'kay.'' Link could feel himself lifted up and placed on the couch right next to where he was seated just moments ago.

_''Mmm.. It's warm...'' _Link snuggled himself on the still-warm couch. It felt nice having contact with something—or someone—warm. And in this case, it was his couch warmed up by Ike's body heat.

Rumbling was heard from Link's kitchen, then a few footsteps, and finally the sound of a glass being put down on the table right in front of him.

Link opened his eyes (he hadn't even realized he had closed them), and he saw a glass filled with squash. He tried to reach for the glass with fruit juice in it, but it was snagged out of his reach.

''Let me help you with that,'' Ike said in a low voice.

Link felt an arm sneak its way back around his shoulders.

''It'll be better if you drink in a sitting-up position.''

Link felt himself be pushed gently in an upright position, but what really surprised him was when he was leaned back onto a broad chest.

''You won't mind if I…?''

Link slowly shook his head in response. His breath hitched when he felt Ike's arm retract, to so encircle itself around his waist. Link managed to breathe again when he felt the cold edge of the glass hit his lips.

''Drink...'' Ike commanded in a low tone.

After finishing the glass of squash, the both of them just lay there in silence—not the awkward kind of silence, but the comfortable one.

''Say,'' Ike pulled Link closer, waking him up from his half-sleeping state, ''how does it feel to have an eidetic memory?''

Link was used to that question, but right now it was the last thing he expected to be asked.

''Well, umm... Sometimes it's a good thing, but sometimes there are times I wish I could forget the things that get burned into my mind.'' Link leaned back and relaxed against Ike.

''Like what?'' Ike squeezed Link's waist reassuringly.

''I rather not talk about that...'' Link turned to his side, gazing absentmindedly on the wall in front of him.

''It's okay... Sorry for bringing it up.'' Ike closed his eyes and slowed down his breath; getting ready for a quick nap.

''Nah. It's okay...'' Link turned his head around, facing the relaxing adult. ''Mmm_..I like your mandibula...''_ Link whispered the last part.

The both of them fell asleep in each others' arms, feeling more comfortable than they had been for quite some time.

* * *

><p>When Ike snaked his arm around the younger boy's waist, he was a little afraid of how he would react. Many different scenarios went through his head, but the one that happened was not a reaction he expected.<p>

Link grabbing his hand and entwining their fingers came as a shock.

But as the blonde was closing his eyes, Ike couldn't help but feel right, very right.

And deep inside himself, he hoped Link felt the same way.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's note:<strong>

This is the part where I thank the beta-reader. I think everyone should give her credit, because she beta-read this on just one day. Not even that. She's amazing.

I will have a little more character development and build Ike and Link's relationship before I move on with them. You won't get a step further the next chapter, but hopefully the one after that.

I'll try to make another chapter as soon as possible. And for those people I said that I would update ASAP. Sorry... And unlike most of you people my vacation ends this week. So I'll try to write as much as possible before I have to get back to school.

Reviews are appreciated :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note:**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Seven<span>

Ike reflected back on his day.

When he woke up, it was already dark outside. He had carried Link's sleeping body upstairs to his bedroom, dressed him for sleep, and immediately went back to his own apartment.

He was currently lying on his couch, thinking back. Ike held out his hand and flexed it a few times before laying it back down again.

The tingling sensation still lingered. Ike couldn't help but feel a pleasant warm feeling dwell up inside of him. He could remember how his heart had sped up when he had an arm circled around Link's waist. The blood rushed through his body because of his quickened up heartbeat, and it definitely did not help when Link had grabbed his hand and entwined their fingers.

Just the thought of that incident made his blood rush yet again.

Ugh! He needed a shower; preferably a cold one at that.

Ike felt the cold water run down his face, making every bit of sleep go away from his eyes. It also brought his body temperature back to average. Finally, he was with a clear mind and no one to disturb him.

He moved his hand; the very same hand which had its fingers laced with Link's about an hour ago.

''Nnnngh...'' Ike groaned. He leaned against the shower wall and let out air he didn't even know he was holding in. Moving his hand away from his forehead, Ike kept staring at his own fingers, remembering how they were entwined with Link's smaller ones.

What he felt when their fingers were entwined...

''Damn it!'' Ike hit the shower wall right behind him in anger. He slowly sank down to the floor, his back gliding against the smooth surface of the wall.

He felt like crying. But Ike hadn't cried a single teardrop since the death of his beloved mother. He made a promise to himself: He would never cry anymore. So the cold water coming from the shower-head had to act as substitution for his dried up tears.

When Ike walked out of the shower, he felt terrible, but at the same time...Relieved? He felt better _and _worse. And the bad thing was...that he knew why he felt that way.

Ike looked into the mirror; he didn't look refreshed like most people would after a shower. No, he looked even worse than before.

_No. _He couldn't be.

Ike fetched a towel from the stool he had placed it on, and started to dry himself with it, one limb at a time. And yet a pleasant—but still unwanted—feeling lingered inside him.

He placed the towel around his neck, preventing the remaining moisture in his hair from forming droplets and dripping down his torso.

Ike had his suspicions before, but he had never given them too much serious thought.

The plain light blue boxers were on, plain blue jeans next and then a plain white t-shirt.

How...normal.

He had to say it out loud. That was the only way to truly confirm it—acknowledging the fact.

Ike was standing in the middle of his own living room (the towel had been thrown into the laundry hamper long ago).

''I-I am in...I have a crush on one of my students,'' Ike stood there in silence for a few minutes. ''I have a crush on one of my students,'' he repeated.

''Ha..Haha.'' Ike began to laugh. It had become full-blown laughter after just a mere second or two. And it died out just as fast as it had appeared.

Ike fell to his knees and slumped over. He tried to slow down his breath; he tried to get as much oxygen to the brain as possible. He was reduced to sobbing on the floor. But still, no tears came out from his eyes.

He laid there for almost a minute—for Ike it felt like almost an hour—until...

Riiing!

Ike jumped at the sound, being both completely surprised _and_ jumping almost five feet backwards.

Ike laid his eyes on the phone right next to his head. He rubbed the back of his head, feeling sore from the impact it had with the wall right behind him. He grabbed the tiny device and looked at the screen for a few seconds. He instantly regretted an action he had done just a little over an hour ago.

* * *

><p>Ike stood there, almost paralyzed, except...he wasn't. He just couldn't find himself able to tear his eyes away from the sleeping figure lying right in front of him.<p>

Ike had found a rather large shirt –which he presumed belonged to someone much older and probably stronger than Link– and put it on the sleeping boy. And it was currently the only thing he was currently wearing – except for underwear of course.

It was like a little devil was sitting on his shoulder, tempting him, but at the same time taunting him.

The boy _was _sleeping after all..._No! _He would not do such a thing.

Instead, Ike searched around the room for some paper he could write on. When he finally had found a tiny scrap, he pulled out the pen from his jacket and started to write. He then searched through the pair of pants that were now discarded on the ground. And, as expected, he found a cell phone in one of the pockets.

Ike put both the note and the phone on the small table right next to the bed, giving a quick glance at his wristwatch. Noticing how late it was, he felt that he should not be there anymore.

''I should probably get back to my own place,'' he muttered to himself.

When about thirty minutes had passed by, the silence that hovered above the room was broken.

''Nnnngh...'' Link groaned while looking around.

He looked around the room, confused. Since when had he gone up to his bedroom? And when had he changed his clothes?

In less than five seconds Link's face exploded into a fierce blush, red coating both of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He could feel the heat on his cheeks despite his fever—it felt awful and-and fascinating at the same time.

Link shook his head—well, more like weakly turned his head left and right—in a dismissal manner. He felt a little dizzy after that action, but he still had a clear enough vision to see his cell phone and a note sitting on his nightstand.

''What the...?'' Link reached for the scrap of paper first.

His blue eyes scanned the note within his fingers for a few seconds. And suddenly he felt something inside of him grow something sort of pleasant, but still unknown and foreign.

The note said that Link could call Ike whenever he needed help—even the man's number was written down in neat handwriting! It looked much better than Link's own scribbling nonsense his own hand produced.

Link' own cell phone was lying on the table, as per usual. However, this time it was like the phone screamed for him to pick it up, and call a certain blue-haired man.

But why should he call Ike? Even though Marth was gone, it didn't mean that he couldn't call Pit or Roy. However, he did not feel like calling them. Instead he felt like dialing only one number, and that number belonged to none other than Ike.

Link felt a lump in his throat, and it only grew larger by each number he pressed down on his phone.

Bip. Bip. Bip.

He now only had to press the dial, and it would be over.

Link sat up slowly, making sure he had his back securely against the wall behind him. He took a deep breath, two breaths, three breaths, four breaths.

He moved his thumb forth, letting it rest on the dial button.

_''It's okay. He wanted me to call him. He left his number right next to my cell phone, after all. But-but... Why am I stressing out so much about this!? Why? Why? WHY!?''_

Link buried his head in his knees and began rocking back and forth, gaining more speed with each ''why''. Until...

''Oh no!''

Link stared in horror at the small screen currently in front of him.

His thumb must have been pushed forth when he was throwing a small fit.

-_Hello?_-

Link froze the instant Ike's voice hit his ears. He made a resolve at that moment.

''Hi...''

-_Link? Is that you?_-

Link clenched his free hand into the sheets.

''Umm...Yeah it's me.''

-_Can I help you with something? Is there something you need?_-

''No. It's just that...'' Link's voice trailed off. His courage fading and his resolve growing weaker.

-_It's okay. You can tell me everything. I won't judge you._-

It was nice to hear Ike's voice. Link could listen to him talk for hours, which was what he did at school. But this time was different. He didn't know what is was, but it was somehow different.

''I-I was wondering if it was okay if you came back tomorrow. So, um... Can you?'' A slight tint of hope in his voice, Link cradled the phone in both of his hands; hoping, wanting, begging for the answer that would please him the most.

Silence.

''I-It's okay if you don't want to.'' Link spoke much faster than usual. ''I understand. I mean you probably have more important things-''

-_It's okay._-

Link stopped his rambling completely. ''Huh?''

-_I said it was okay. I'll be there tomorrow to check up on you._-

''B-but don't you have work to attend to?''

-_Didn't _you _just ask _me _to come check up on you?-_

''Yes I did but... How is it going to work out? You know, with the work and all.''

-_I have a few extra days off I can take, so it will work out okay.-_

''But then you will be using _your_ days off for me...'' Link blushed over how much of a woman he sounded like. Or a blushing school girl, for that matter.

-_I said it'll be okay. So don't fret over it.-_

Deciding he had said more than enough, Link answered back shortly and bluntly.

''Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye...''

-_Good bye. Sleep well._-

Link hung up and threw away his phone; it landed on a pile of clothes—his clothes. The clothes he had worn today. And the ones he assumed from which Ike had undressed him.

He was so caught up with his own problems that Link failed completely to notice the slight tremble in Ike's own voice.

''Sleep well indeed...'' Link muttered to himself bitterly.

* * *

><p>Ike still had the key to Link's house, so there were no problems to get in to the household. The problem laid in managing the courage to actually go upstairs to where the boy was probably sleeping.<p>

It was too late to chicken out now. He had already promised Link that he would be there, _and _he had already called the school and said that he wanted the extra days off now. There was no turning back.

He just had to take one step at the time. For each step Ike took, thus closer was he to the _real _point of no return.

Ike slowly and quietly opened the door to Link's bedroom. He was currently standing over the boy's sleeping form, feeling like a stalker—no, a criminal—looking down on Link. While he was sleeping, no less.

He looked so at ease. It should be a crime to wake someone like that up from such a peaceful slumber. The least that Ike could do was to wake him up in the least-rude manner that came to his mind.

Ike wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through the golden locks that were covering those gentle eyes that belonged to Link. But knowing that such an act was unacceptable, he had to settle with gently shaking the boy's shoulders.

Link opened his eyes slowly, like in the movies when the prince saves the princess from eternal sleep. He blinked once, twice, three times before getting a clear picture of the man right in front of him.

Link opened his mouth to say something, but Ike beat him to it.

''I'll go make you some breakfast. Just stay here in the meantime.''

And before Link could utter a single word, Ike was out the door. He could hear the man's footsteps going down the stairs, one step at a time.

It became a routine after a short while: Ike waking Link up by gently shaking his shoulder; Making breakfast; staying downstairs while the blond rested upstairs; Being there in case Link needed help or something, anything; and leaving when Ike found it inappropriate to stay any longer—or at least that was what he told Link.

It had been three days since that _'episode' _happened, and it had only become worse. For almost four days straight the only person he had interacted with was Link (with the exception of the cashier when he was out shopping for groceries).

When Ike felt that he was on his limit, before he would do or say something stupid, he would leave; saying something among the lines: ''I should go. It's starting to get late.''

Ike felt the frustration taking over his body inch by inch, and it quickened each time he was in the same room as Link. Damn it! Why was it so complicated? If Link just wasn't his student, he would've grabbed him, given him a long nice french kiss, and if there was a spark there, he would pursue a relationship.

But it was different now, unlike what he would do to an adult. Link was still a minor, and not only that, but he was a student of his. A student of his. It was unacceptable. It was inappropriate. It was disgraceful. It was...

...Unfair.

Why? Why did Ike _have _to fall for one of his students? He would've gladly fallen for someone else. Heck, even Snake...No, that was a lie. He'd rather have an affair with a student than with that old goat face.

''Umm...''

Ike opened his eyes from the sudden sound entering his ears. He was lying on the leather couch, but quickly sat up when Link (only dressed in underwear and a ridiculously large t-shirt) came into his

view.

''Are you okay? I heard you groaning.'' Link took a step forth, his bare feet becoming colder each second.

Ike's eyes widened, but only for a split second. He quickly tried to change the topic of the so called 'conversation'.

''Hey-hey. You should get back to bed. You're not fully recovered yet.'' Ike rose up to his feet and started walking towards the boy who held both of his arms around him. It was as if he was freezing—and, well, he probably was.

When Ike was about three feet away from Link, the boy took a step forward to protest. However…

''Ah!'' One of Link's feet had failed him, and he tripped. Tripped right into Ike's arms. And Ike, having been trained for a year, caught him without thinking what the consequences would be.

Ike gasped at the sudden warmth he felt coming from the boy in his arms.

_''Oh no, oh no. This is bad. This is really bad.''_

As Ike declared himself immobilized by having the person he had fallen for in his arms, a part of him hoped that Link would be the one to push away; at the same time, another part of him wanted them to stay like that for just a little while longer. Either way, one of the parts would get their hopes crushed.

But what he did not expect was...was that Link seemed just as paralyzed as Ike was.

Ike could feel his fingers twitch for something. He knew what they wanted, but he dared not give

those wants concrete words.

It felt like there was a little devil on Ike's shoulder—a really _horny_ devil whispering the dirtiest fantasies to ever enter a man's mind.

That's it. He couldn't take it anymore. His wrists turned, and his arms moved away from each other. Ike was going to grab those slim shoulders and throw the owner on the couch. If he did that, one out of two things would happen: One, he would have his fill and would stop feeling so desperate for the young blonde; or two, he would have a taste of the forbidden fruit and would find himself unable to stop. But one thing was certain; he would ruin his own and Link's life in the process.

But it was too late now. His hands were mere centimeters from the two shoulders. His feet were already positioned, so he could spin around and have them both crash down on the couch he had found himself spending more and more time on.

His body was shaking in anticipation and his breathing became shallower.

It would be all done in a matter of seconds. Grab, spin, crash and—

A gentle but firm hand pressed against his chest stopped Ike's train of thoughts.

''Umm...Ike? You okay? You're breathing has shortened.'' Link's gentle and worried voice chased his filthy thoughts away. And boy, was he grateful for that.

Ike grabbed Link's wrist and brought it further away from his own torso.

The devil on his shoulder was screaming in agony; roaring orders directly into Ike's ear; telling him to stop messing around and take what was rightfully his.

''Go back to your room. I'll make you something to eat.'' Ike ignored the little bugger sitting on his shoulders, barking orders to no avail.

Link was about to open his mouth to protest, but Ike just took a hold of his shoulders—the very same shoulders he was about to grab for very different reasons a minute ago—and sent him away.

When he couldn't hear Link's footsteps anymore, Ike felt like passing out. But he settled for just plopping down onto the couch behind him.

Ike pressed the palms of his hands hard against his forehead, and dragged his fingers through his hair. He felt filthy, disgusting, angry, but most of all, ashamed.

He was that close to...to...

Ike quickly got up from his lying-down position. However, because of that, he could feel the dizziness hit almost instantly. But Ike steadied himself by spreading his legs to shoulder width.

He knew what he needed. He needed a task. Something to do. Something to distract him. Luckily,

Ike had told Link that he would make him some food.

Ike had to suppress whatever that 'thing' was—the 'thing' that had appeared when he had held Link in his arms. Even if it meant he had to put on a mask. A facade.

Link was sitting in a fetal position on his bed. He hugged his knees and buried his face within them. Yet another 'episode' had been etched into his memory; this was the last thing he needed. But this one was much worse.

Some kind of fleeting, tingling sensation had gotten stuck in his chest; it paralyzed him when he was in Ike's arms.

Strong arms. Safe arms. Welcoming arms.

Link shook his head in disbelief. What was he thinking? It must have been his fever messing with his thought processes again. But...he felt much, _much_ better now. Link hardly felt any dizziness when he was downstairs, standing straight up on both of his legs.

Link just couldn't help but feel a little bit stressed…

The blonde jumped at the sound of rustling downstairs.

…Okay, _really _stressed.

Link needed something to calm down his nerves, but he knew he did not have access to that in his current state.

Despite feeling much better, Link knew that he still wasn't well enough to be deemed 'healthy'. He figured that he would at least be able to go back to school on Monday.

He was starting to get bored. Link was never good with dealing with boredom.

Link didn't have much to do, so he had started humming out of habit. He hummed the tune of a song he was very fond of, one that he had first heard when his mother had taken him to see a musical. It was a very happy childhood memory of his, with the fascinating plot, the intriguing characters, but most of all, the wonderful music.

The lyrics corresponded in his head as he hummed the slow high-pitched tune.

_~Here in this room_

_He calls me softly_

_Somewhere inside hiding~_

Link immediately stopped his mindless humming when he heard soft knocking.

The thought of someone catching him off-guard like that made the blood rush up to Link's cheeks.

''Hi. Here's today's dinner.'' Ike set the plate with warm food on the white nightstand next to Link's queen sized bed.

''Thanks...'' Link mumbled, bowing down so his hair would hide his face.

''Hey…''Ike reached his hand forth and brushed a few golden locks away from Link's face.

Ike bent his back, so he could get a better view of Link's—now very red—face.

Realizing how close he was to the blushing teen, Ike quickly withdrew both his hand and entire being.

''I should go. Call for me if you need me.''

Link nodded slowly, never daring to look up. When Ike was on the stairs he let out a long sigh.

He had heard it. It was just humming, but he liked it. Really liked it.

They were just a few tones, but Ike knew that those notes were too high for a boy to hit, that is, unless he had been humming that tune since he was a kid...or at least before he had reached puberty.

But right after Ike had stopped up for a few seconds to listen to the soothing tune, he expected the teenager to just stop humming and maybe look at him in annoyance. What he did not expect was the shock plastered on Link's face, followed immediately by a fierce blush, followed by having Link bowing his head down in something that resembled shame.

If that kept up, Ike wouldn't be able to survive the next couple of days, much less the entire year they would spend together as student and teacher.

That was it. Ike might not be able to just grab Link and make out with him in the open, but he had to find some way to get the little crush he had gained on one of his students to leave him alone.

Perhaps just one kiss. One innocent, chaste kiss.

Yes. That was all he needed. One kiss and it would be all over.

...or would it?

Ike had gone back to his own place for the day, but he said he would return at the same time the day after.

But until then, Link would be all alone. And he didn't like it, not one bit.

He could always call either Roy or Pit, but for some reason he didn't feel like talking about crap none of them actually cared about.

Why did he suddenly feel so lonely? Link never had any problems with being alone before. Why now?

Link turned around and started staring absentmindedly on the door. It would be about twelve hours until that door would open up. Twelve hours until he would feel his shoulder being shaken softly by a warm and gentle hand. Twelve hours until he would hear a dark and soothing voice saying, almost whispering in his ear: ''Good mornin'. It's time to wake up.''

Twelve. Freaking! Hours.

A loud, frustrated groan could be heard from the bedroom.

Link made an annoyed face. Twelve hours? He would never survive that! He closed his blue eyes, trying to gain the sleep he knew he needed. But it was all in vain. Because not even a minute later, he had opened his eyes again, making whatever sleepiness that existed disappear.

This was going to be a long night, Link's mind told him— in a slightly mocking tone at that.

Link let his thoughts wander to wherever his mind wanted. He slowly closed his eyes, only to open them up in such a shocked and quick way that one would think he'd just experienced the worst nightmare known to man.

Link covered his mouth in shock, for the second he had closed his eyes, his mind had drifted off to a certain blue haired teacher.

The very same teacher who had taken care of him in the last week. The very same teacher who had made every meal he had eaten for almost a whole week. The very same teacher who was one of the few people he genuinely cared about.

Why did he care?

The rest of the night did not go any faster; in fact, it felt like it went even slower. Link was not in a good mood, to say the least, when the sun peaked through his curtains.

During the entire night, Link had been thinking about everything that came to his mind. Everything that had come to his mind he had analyzed, judged, and sent to a far off corner in his brain.

The tings that had sneaked their way into his mind that night were his life, past, present and future.

But most of all, he thought of Ike.

Why had, out of all people, his _teacher_ been the one who had been on his mind the most?

Link was currently pondering on that question, his back down on the bed and face up, eyes gently closed, his breath slow and steady. Link started to feel drowsy when he heard a door opening and shutting.

He knew who it was, and was _that close _to thanking the heavens for having Ike come back to him.

However, Link still remained in his sleep-like state because...Because he wanted that one thing he had been waiting for. For twelve torturous hours.

Link knew Ike was currently entering his room. It was just a matter of seconds before he would lay a hand on his shoulder…Or so he thought.

Instead nothing happened, but he knew Ike—or at least someone—was standing right next to his bed. He heard the floor creak from someone changing their position; a warm hand settled itself on his...forehead?

It brushed away his blond locks away from his forehead. And the next thing truly shocked him:

Link felt firm but soft lips plant themselves on his forehead, giving him a chaste kiss. The lips lingered a second longer than a normal kiss on the forehead would, the kind one would receive from his or her mother.

Link felt the blood rush to his cheeks. Oh no.

The second Ike's lips left his forehead, Link pretended to stir in his sleep. He turned around so his back was facing Ike. He heard the older male let out a sigh, not knowing if it was a pleasant one or not.

Link heard Ike walking down the stairs one step at a time. Then there was silence, and for some reason, it felt incredibly awkward. Link reached a shaky hand up to his forehead, his fingertips lightly touching the area a pair of lips had been not long ago. He could still feel the tingling sensation.

It felt kind of pleasant. Alien, but still pleasant.

The rest of the day went on as normal. Well, as 'normal' as it could get. At eight-o-clock, Ike was already out the door and in his own car.

It was a chance game he had played today. And it was a fifty-fifty chance—either success or failure, nothing in between. But one way or another, the outcome had managed to get itself into a gray area. Not the black or white area he had anticipated, but a gray area. He had lost, but at the same time not lost; he had won, but at the same time not.

It was a kiss (More of a peck, but whatever) on the forehead. Link didn't wake up, so one risk factor was covered. But the other half of the factor did not go as he had planned.

He liked it. Not only liked it, but loved it. It was addicting!

No! He told himself: There would only be one kiss. Nothing more.

But why did it have to be so addicting?

The tiny devil had regained its strength after that kiss. It was screaming ''More! More! MORE!'' directly into his ear. And the worst part was that Ike felt like caving in to the temptations and following that horny bastard's orders.

It was so frustrating!

Ike hit the steering wheel with all his might, but he was still careful to not touch the car horn.

There existed things in his life that he had no control of. They happened so few and far in between, but no matter what time those events struck, Ike could always predict the outcome. It was usually either one of two options, and Ike had put both of them in consideration. But not this time. No, this time he tried to predict the outcome, but it became something entirely else. He didn't like it at all.

Ike started the engine of his car and headed back to his own apartment.

When Ike had arrived to the parking lot of his current residence, he felt his cell phone in his pocket

vibrate.

''Hello.''

-Hi. You remember the time when Snake called you and said everyone had to come an hour early to start planning the Student's Night?-

''Yes.'' Ike instantly recognized Samus' voice on the other side of the line.

-You know it's planned out and all, but guess what.''-

''What?'' Ike asked in a monotonic voice.

-It's been decided that the event is going to be on this Friday. So make sure you're at the school seven pm on Thursday, 'cause that's when the final touches will be set.-

''I know. Snake's been pestering me about it for over a week.''

-Well, I thought it might be nice to hear it from someone civilized.-

''It is. Well, he's just...just Snake.''

-Heh...Yeah. But I will see you on Monday right? You've been gone the entire week. What's so important anyway?-

''I'll be there on Monday. And for my short absence; you don't need to worry about that. It's okay

now. Bye Sam.''

'' 'K...Bye Ike.''

Sunday mornings. Ugh! How Link hated them. It was the same shit every week, no matter what.

This was the toughest night of the week. Link half-regretted the decision he made the day before. He told Ike he was feeling fine, and that he didn't need to come back the next day, and that they would meet on the upcoming Monday anyway.

Ike had given him a smile; he didn't say anything relevant in response, but there was no need for it. A soothing smile and a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder told him more than enough.

It didn't only tell him that it was a possibility that his own freaking teacher seemed to genuinely care about him, but that...

Ugh! It sounded so cliché, Link felt like throwing up the acid in his stomach.

He felt like crying, but he found himself unable to do so. After what happened a few years prior, Link promised himself he would never cry again. He put his arms around himself, took a shaky breath, and just let the tears fall silently down his cheeks.

Currently the only thing he could hear was a song he hadn't listened to in years.

_~That voice which calls to me_

_And speaks my name_

_And do I dream again?_

_For now I find_

_The Phantom of the Opera is here,_

_Inside my mind~_

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's note:<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note:**

Holy smokes! Seems like I updated. And only two weeks have gone by.

Well, about that. I was thinking that I am going to make a schedule. I am going to update every other Tuesday from now on. Well, at least until November, but I might update then too. The only thing that might interrupt the flow is: Unexpected surprises, a ridiculous amount of homework from school or problems communicating with the beta-reader. Or of course if the beta-reader gets a few problems herself.

Story time :D

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Eight<span>

The second Roy laid his eyes on Link, he threw his arms around the slightly taller boy.

''Oh. My. God! Don't you ever dare leave me again.'' Roy was clutching Link's shoulders while shaking him and yelling directly into his face.

''Well, sorry. I'll try to control my Pharyngitis next time. Gee...''

''He missed you just because he copies your homework when you don't look,'' Pit said casually while sitting next to the drum-set.

''What?'' Link looked seriously at Roy.

Roy mumbled a little bit, telling Pit to go to hell. ''It's not what you think. Pit's lying—you know how he is.''

''Of course.'' Link muttered.

''What are you guys doing?'' Marth asked from the door. He had just arrived to the music room.

''And where have you been, young man?!'' Pit yelled from his seat, pointing a drumstick accusingly at Marth.

''I told you all; I've been visiting extended family outside the country. And we're the same age...Actually, I'm over half a year older than you.'' Marth folded his arms and looked a little annoyed at Pit, who was still pointing that stick towards him.

Pit was about to retort, but the school bell stopped him before he had the chance to do so.

''Okay, everyone. Gather around before you take your instruments.'' The teacher said in a slightly louder-than-normal voice.

''WHAT ARE _YOU _DOING HERE?! YOU'RE NOT SAMUS!'' Roy shouted in sheer panic.

Ike glared at the accusing finger directed at him. It looked like Roy had just witnessed a ghost passing by, or a fire which had engulfed all of his belongings. Either way, he just looked all-in-all frightened.

''Well, Samus is busy with organizing Student's night, so I will be filling in for-''

''NO! NO NO NO NO! You are _not_ allowed to take over music! _You_ of all people are not allowed to ruin the one thing here I'm good at!'' Roy had walked up to the bluenette sitting in the teacher's chair and was now practically yelling in Ike's face.

''Calm down before I write you up.'' Ike gave Roy a warning look, telling him that he was serious. ''Okay everyone, could you all please tell me what you do in this class?''

''I sing. I'm the main vocal, for your information.'' Roy said it with a grim look on his face, but there was still a hint of pride evident in his voice.

''I do the drums!'' Pit flapped his arms in excitement.

''Yes. He physically takes off his pants and shoves his—''

''Dark! That is not a language you should use around civilized people!'' Sheik covered the ears of Zelda, who then turned around to look at him funny.

"—the drums themselves. Oh, and by the way, I play the bass.'' Dark was more lying in his chair than sitting on it. He had his arms crossed behind his head and his feet crossed in front of him.

''Thank you for the information, Dark. _Dark, bass._'' Ike wrote down the names of the students and the instruments, or what they did in the class, in a thin book Samus had given him.

''Why can't you ever act like a decent person?'' Sheik had removed his hands from Zelda's ears, and was glaring at the dark-haired teen sitting comfortably in his seat.

''Heh. You can bitch about me all you want, but in the end, I'm one of the few people who can actually manage your stuck-up attitude.'' A smug smile found its way on Dark's face, a few strands of pitch-black hair covering his eyes.

''I do not have a 'stuck up attitude'.'' Sheik crossed his arms, his eyes hardening.

''Yeah you do. Just ask anyone here.'' Dark rose up from his position. ''Hey, Red!''

Said boy looked up from his phone in annoyance, glaring at the two teens who had called him. It was a look so harsh that even Dark had to lean away from the resentfulness coming from those light brown eyes.

''Do you think that Sheik acts like he has a cold stick shoved up his ass?'' Dark shoved his hands down the pockets of his baggy jeans.

''You couldn't have worded that differently?'' Sheik gave a judging look to Dark, and the raven-haired teen paid no mind.

''Yes,'' Pit said while twirling one of the drumsticks around.

''I agree,'' Roy stated, not taking his eyes away from Ike, who was still writing down notes.

''Mmm...Yeah, kinda.'' Link admitted.

''I'm not going to lie...'' Marth was standing next to Link; the two of them had apparently started a conversation before Dark's question had been voiced.

''You can be kind of a prick.''

''Zelda! How could you say that?!'' Sheik looked at his childhood friend in shock.

''Well for starters, you act like my mom when we're the same age.''

''You do remember that I'm almost a year older than you.'' Sheik intervened.

''That's not the point!'' Zelda rose up from her seat, leaving Peach by herself, and walked towards her visibly taller childhood friend.

''LIKE I SAID. YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO BE HERE! I GET A's IN THIS SUBJECT! FREAKING A's!'' Roy proceeded to yell in Ike's face. One wouldn't be surprised if a little bit of spit escaped the redhead's mouth.

''Hey! When are we going to play? I wanna play the drums. Now!'' Pit shook the drumsticks in his hands restlessly, hitting the cymbals a few times in the process.

The rest of the class went pretty much like that: Roy complaining about Samus' absence; Zelda telling Sheik how much of a PMS-ing woman he was being; Dark watching and snickering the whole time; and Pit nagging and hitting the drums, to make matters worse. The rest took the opportunity to just chat for the remainder of the period.

* * *

><p>''Wasn't that weird?'' Pit asked to no one in particular, but more to everyone who was there.<p>

''Whaddya mean?'' Roy asked back.

''Well, did you notice how Ike didn't even bother to do a thing to stop the class from acting, well...like we do in every class except for Snake's, Samus', and his?'' Pit looked at everyone who was around.

''Yeah. You're right. I wonder what happened to him.'' Sheik wondered. He had calmed down from the earful he'd received from Zelda earlier.

''I don't know about you guys, but he looked kind of tired. He probably hasn't gotten enough sleep this weekend,'' Marth said while putting his hands in his pockets.

''He was probably busy all night banging some random dude,'' Roy laughed at his own words, managing to drag Pit along with him. They both received warning glances from the others around them.

''Oh, shut up. You can stop fantasizing about your dream man, Blue-boy, over there and start paying attention to what I'm going to say.'' Roy glared at Dark for even implying that he would actually like the teacher sent from hell for his torture. ''What? Well, do you know how much you talk about him? It's obvious you have a man-crush on him. So go get your averagely pretty face over there and demand that Mr. Fifty-laps-or-else bends you over and screws you on your desk. Or you can shut the hell up and listen to what I was going to tell you guys. Sheesh...''

Roy stared wide-eyed at his peer. He made a gesture that he was going to be quiet—mimicking that he was zipping his mouth shut, and throwing the key away.

''Good. Now, who has the slightest idea of what I am about to tell you guys?''

''You're going to drug and rape Link on the Student's night this Friday,'' Pit said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

''Okay, something not painfully obvious would be nice.'' Dark looked at Pit, telling him that he talked too much with just his eyes. ''Anyone? No? Okay. Like we all know, there's always someone who slips a little alcohol into the drinks every year.'' Everyone nodded knowingly. Dark continued, ''Well, it just so happens that this year I'm going to be the one who does that. And I'm bringing the good stuff. So just a warning: if you don't wanna get piss drunk, I say you should keep away from the drinks. Or at least the largest punch-bowl of them all, 'cause that's the one I'll be targeting. You got it?''

''But why isn't Link here? Shouldn't he know, too?'' Marth raised an eyebrow suspiciously at the dark-haired teen.

"I just told you why. He's going to drug and rape Link… well...Technically it would be more like getting Link piss drunk, _then _raping him," Pit said in a matter-of-fact tone, something that did not go well with his words.

''Damn it, Tech-freak. You revealed all of my plans,'' Dark said jokingly to the boy who had seemed dead serious the whole time.

''By the way, where _is_ Link?'' Marth turned around, looking for the blonde boy in question.

On the other side of the school, Link sat by himself on one of the benches outside the library, reading a thick book. ''_The Leopard_'' was written on the front; there was a picture of a metal heart with spikes protruding from it. Link had chosen to read both the English version and the version in the original language (He had the other version back at home).

His eyes scanned each individual word, his mind making up the horrific scene that was described for him. Link would occasionally stop reading the book within his hands and look up, up to where three people were currently sitting and discussing what would happen the upcoming week. But his eyes would only focus on one person. And he knew why; he knew it all too well.

Was it really true? Ignorance is bliss.

* * *

><p>'' 'Sup, sexy.''<p>

Dark waved to Link while smiling playfully at him.

Link, deciding to humor Dark for now, smiled back. ''Nothing much, sweetheart.''

Dark's smile widened at the response. He walked forth and put his arm around the blonde's shoulders, squeezing him tight against his chest.

''So, when are we going to plan our second honeymoon? _Darling._''

Link laughed and pushed away the taller teen. ''Wow. It doesn't get any gayer than this.'' A short laugh escaped the both of them.

Seeing the interaction between Dark and Link, Ike couldn't help but feel jealous. The little devil on his shoulder taunted him.

_That's what you get for letting the boy go when you had the chance yourself._

Anger consumed him. Ike felt like giving Dark an F in every subject he was in charge of. But he knew he couldn't do that, and there was no point in it anyways; Dark failed in every subject except for P.E. and the few times he actually made an effort to get good grades.

It was currently free class. Most of the students were either chatting or had brought up some kind of screen that they could stare at for the next hour.

_~Now it's too late, too late to live  
><em>_Only heaven loves you now  
><em>_So love it back, for once  
><em>_Just once~_

Ike turned his head towards the source of the music that had just hit his eardrums. And what he saw did not exactly fit to the lyrics of the song that was playing.

Pit was pretending to play guitar, and Roy was mouthing the text while holding an imaginary microphone.

This was going to be a long day. No, this was going to be a long _week_.

''You really are something, aren't ya'?'' Sheik shook his head in disappointment.

Link ignored the little verbal fight Sheik and Dark was currently having. Instead, he had his attention focused on something entirely different from the two quarreling teenagers. Link's attention had been directed to one with a pair of dark blue eyes, a simple, white dress-shirt, dark blue jeans, and messy blue hair.

Their eyes made contact.

Ike had felt someone's eyes on him, and by instinct he lifted his head to look at the one whose attention was directed towards him. And it was in a free class, of all places!

Link quickly blocked his sight by placing his hand over his eyes and looking away, thus shielding himself from more awkwardness.

It kept going like this for four more days. Four more days of this…this tension. This awkwardness, this frustration.

Link kept feeling this longing, like he was missing something. Ike felt frustration, and irritation became a more common feeling than usual. And the devil on his shoulder just wouldn't shut up.

* * *

><p>''Link.'' The voice held a serious tone.<p>

''Hnn?'' Link answered back. He appeared drowsy, probably from the amount of sleep (Or lack thereof) he had during the week they were currently in.

''Is there something wrong?'' Roy looked at Link, his eyes filled with worry.

''Why do you ask?'' Link started to feel nervous. Roy wasn't the brightest one around, so if he knew, there was a big possibility that more had their suspicions too.

''I don't know. You've just been acting...weird. Like there's something that's been on your mind, or bothering you.'' Roy looked out to the ground in front of them. The park was strangely empty; there were usually more people out during this time of day.

''No!'' Link answered a little too quickly for it to be passed as a casual answer. ''I-I've been sick. You remember that? So there's no reason to worry. Heh, it's usually Marth who's the first one to jump at me like that.''

''You know, you can tell me if you want. It's okay—I won't judge.'' Roy leaned himself backwards, resting his back against the tree they were sitting under.

''_I wish that was true,_'' Link mumbled to himself.

''What?'' Roy whipped his head in the direction of Link, one of his eyebrows rising.

''Nothin'...'' Link dismissed Roy's question by turning his head in the other direction.

'' 'Kay. But remember, I won't judge you. No matter what it is. Hell, you could be doing it with one of the teachers and I wouldn't judge.'' Roy put a reassuring hand on Link's shoulder, making the other teen turn around to look him in the eyes.

''Heh...'' Link scratched the back of his head and gave a sad smile in return.

''Sooo...Link, how about that homework? You done with it already?'' Roy made a goofy smile, something clearly hidden beneath his words. The redhead tried to make him feel better, and perhaps he'd get a little 'help' with his homework.

Link gave a short laugh, but it was long enough for Roy to understand that he helped a little.

Hopefully he would get two out of two instead of one out of two, but it was fine for him either way.

However, the mindset of Snake was entirely different from Roy's.

''Yo, Greil!'' Snake said in a fairly casual tone.

''What is it, Snake?'' Ike said, a little annoyed. The bluenette was sitting on the couch in the teacher's lounge. A cup of coffee was placed right next to a stack of papers.

''Oh, well you know how I am...'' Snake sat himself down right next to Ike, who just looked at him irritably.

''...I don't usually beat around the bush for too long.'' Snake's expression changed after that last sentence.

Ike turned his head around, an expression of pure dread evident on his face, but only for a split-second. ''What do you mean?.''

''Don't play dumb with me...Ike.'' Snake showed he was serious. He had just called Ike by his first name when there was just the two of them, and it was in a rather grave tone too. It was a tone he only used when he was about to scold the younger man.

''Nice reaction. I see all the times I had to babysit you and your sister have finally paid off.'' Snake felt like lighting a cigarette—not because he felt that he needed it, but because he felt pretty damn cool now. He just felt like adding to the effect.

However, Snake had to be satisfied with just leaning back and crossing his arms in front of his chest. It was an old, worn-out couch they were sitting on; the school needed to start upgrading a little bit. Well, at least the teacher's lounge.

''So, what's up with you?'' Snake smiled with that smile that was meant to piss people off.

Ike was about to answer with a sarcastic remark, but he was interrupted by Snake. The older man started speaking again, and his words sent a warning signal straight to the brain under Ike's blue tresses.

''You know...In the last couple of days,'' Snake quickly added.

Ike didn't say a word; he was literally frozen on the spot. The coffee mug he was about to bring up to his lips, suspended in the air. Ike sat there like some kind of statue.

''Well, not exactly for two days. It's more like the entire week.'' Snake continued talking. He kept pushing, for he knew there was something odd going on. And he was set on finding out what.

''You see, I've been noticing something.'' Ike's blood went cold. For each word Snake uttered, Ike felt like he was being dragged deeper and deeper down into the sea of no return.

''Usually, you and Link strike a casual conversation in recess at least twice a day. However, that seems to have diminished recently. And not only that but, you've been acting a lot more isolated,''

Ike, now unfrozen, wanted to ask where he got that from. But the older man kept talking.

''irritated, frustrated, like there's something you recently found out about, but regret knowing.'' Snake rubbed his scruffy chin in thought.

Ike opened his mouth to speak, but no words came to mind, and no sound came out of his mouth.

Rrriiiing!

The small device placed within Ike's pocket vibrated and sang a short, repetitive tune.

''Hello? Samus. How are you? Why are you ringing—''

The both of them jumped in their seat from a knocking sound. Right in the doorway stood Samus, phone in her hand and a pissed-off look on her face.

''Samus! What are you doing heeeeeere?!''

Samus had grabbed Ike's ear, and was now dragging him out of the teacher's lounge.

''Ow, ow, ow,'' Ike kept repeating. He held a firm grip on Samus' wrist, trying to break free from the strong woman's grip, but at the same time making sure not to pull too much on his ear.

''Sorry Snake, but I'm going to need _junior_ over here to help me out with the final touches for tonight. Like he _promised _to do.'' Samus jerked Ike's ear a few inches down, making the man almost fall down. ''Now say good bye to the old man. We have work to do.''

Samus dragged Ike out, having the younger one stumble behind her.

Snake had to keep an eye out for the young teacher. If he was lucky, Ike would get the spiked up punch and get a little tipsy. Hopefully that would be enough to get him to talk. Because Snake knew, he knew that Ike was hiding something from him.

* * *

><p>A dim light setting, moderately loud music, and a sea of endless chatter coming from countless of youths. A large hall, tables on the sides, filled with everything needed.<p>

It couldn't get better than this. No really, it couldn't. The teachers and students who planned and organized the event had used up the entire budget; there wasn't even a penny left, as Marth put it.

A silver bottle was nestled in the pockets of a black sweater. An arm stretched out, the silver bottle in its grip. The cork was unscrewed, and clear liquid came out of the opening. With a quiet ''splosh'' it blended with the sweet orange-red punch, without a trace, without evidence. No smell, no taste, just the effect. The bottle went back to the pocket, but wait—not before taking a slight detour. Two mouthfuls disappeared from the silver container.

Dark gave a content smile and a pleased sigh. Special made, odorless, tasteless, but still packs a punch. No pun intended. Just one glass with the spiked up punch in, and you would instantly feel the alcohol surge through your body.

He had to get away from the bowl so no one would get suspicious over the unplanned extra content. Ah! Some of the teachers were walking towards the 'poisoned' punch.

''Hey Snake, doesn't that bowl look suspicious?'' Samus pointed at the large bowl of punch.

''Why yes, it does; it would be kind of risky to make a taste test...Ike! Come over here!'' Snake yelled out, trying to catch the attention to the younger man over the ridiculously loud music.

Ike eventually arrived at the scene of crime after a few more yells. ''What do you want?'' he asked, a little more annoyed than usual.

''Drink this.'' Samus had pushed a plastic glass with the 'suspicious' punch in it.

Ike blinked at the drink in his hands, but before he was able to protest Samus gave him a look that made him cave in every time he saw it. Her look said one thing, and one thing only.

_I dare you._

''Fine, fine.'' Ike downed the glass of punch. Feeling no unexpected taste, smell or effect, he told his colleagues there was no reason to worry. When the two other teachers left to have a look around the area, Ike realized how thirsty he was. Was it the drink that had caused this? Ike didn't really care when he downed the second glass, or the third.

By the time Ike had the fourth glass in his hand, both Samus and Snake had returned from their little 'inspection'.

Samus, noticing how Ike's body moved back and forth, quickly snatched the drink away from her younger colleague. ''Well, he's drunk. Get him out of the room.'' Samus went to remove the already almost empty bowl, while Snake helped Ike get out.

He was literally dragging Ike out of the hall. But they were out of the room, and into the hallway. The completely empty hallway. The hallway with two lines of lockers, a bench, a trashcan, and a stairwell.

''Hey, Ike.'' Snake supported Ike's weight on his shoulder, the only way the older male could come up with to carry the younger man's body weight.

Snake got no response.

''You know what we talked about earlier? Would you mind telling me about that now?'' Snake shook Ike's body, trying to bring it to life.

''Hnnn...? What?'' Ike lifted his head up and turned it to the side so he could look directly at Snake.

Snake saw the flush in Ike's face, and had to suppress a laugh. It wasn't every day you would see Ike freaking Greil drunk like that. ''Has something been bothering you these last couple of days?'' He knew he had to ask the question as if it was an entirely new subject. ''You've been acting kind of strange. Would you mind telling me about it?''

''You know what…The funniest thing happened to me last week.'' Ike grabbed both of the older man's shoulders, both of them standing up on their own. ''Well actually, it's kinda tragic..._heh, more like pathetic._''

Snake saw the sad smile plastered on Ike's face, but it instantly lightened up.

''But you know what? It'll be okay, because I'm just gonna suck it up and deal with it.'' The grip on Snake's shoulders got tighter, and Ike's face went back to being depressed.

''Why don't you tell me about it?'' Snake gently pushed Ike down, making him sit on the stairs. He had to get Ike's weight off him; as it was Snake would probably have bruises shaped like fingerprints on his shoulders for at least a week.

''Mmmnn...Why not?'' Ike threw his hands in the air, shaking his head.

When Ike was about to open his mouth and pour everything out and let Snake know the truth, Samus had to—of course—interrupt.

''Hey, what are you doing? I need your help over here. There are several students who've gotten alcohol. Come on, hurry!'' Samus gestured for Snake to hurry up. Snake looked at the talkative and intoxicated Ike, and back to a very impatient Samus, who was now getting angrier and angrier the more she waited.

He could always return—the drunk little idiot wasn't exactly going anywhere anytime soon.

''I'm coming!'' And with that, Snake left Ike to sit by his lonesome self in the hallway.

Because of all the ruckus going on back in the 'party', both Snake _and _Samus failed to notice a fuming teen getting out of the area.

_''Those idiots! Imbeciles! Fucking imbeciles!'' _Link stomped the ground like a small child who had just been denied the extra cookie before dinner.

_''Calm down Link. And think about what happened.''_ Link took a deep breath and turned around, looking at the double doors leading back into the hall. His back was turned against Ike, who had just noticed him.

_''Let's see... Well, not only did your so called 'friends' fail to tell you about their plans for the evening, but they didn't even say a single word when you were drinking that poisoned beverage yourself. A bunch of assholes, all of them!'' _Link took a few steps back, looking at the door angrily.

Link sighed internally._ ''Fine, you may have overreacted a bit. But you've been tense this week. And you've procrastinated a bit too much. Seems like the Limbic system has won this week.''_ But before Link got to describing the brain's anatomy (which he would have done), he was interrupted by two hands, who had a firm grip on his hips.

Two hands pulled Link down and made him land directly into someone's lap; presumably, the owner of the hands on his hips.

''I-Ike?'' Link looked at his teacher in surprise. Both of their cheeks flushed from the alcohol. ''W-we should _not_ be in this kind of position.'' Link tried to get up on his feet, but the arms who had previously been on his hips moved up and were now wrapped around his torso, keeping him in place.

''H-how about this? Did you know that Dark was the one who had spiked up the drinks?'' Link tried to strike up a conversation, tried to find something to save him from this awkwardness.

But it seemed like Link's knowledge would not bail him out of this one, no matter how advanced his vocabulary was.

''_Shhhh..._'' Ike whispered into Link's ear. Not only was the alcohol weakening his defense, but it was also fueling the devil who was drooling over its prey.

Their lips connected, and Link's body instantly stiffened at the contact.

Link, with eyes wide open and limbs stiff, found himself in a turmoil. On one hand, he was absolutely thrilled that they were kissing. He had actual human contact with someone other than his friends. But on the other hand, this was taboo. Being with a teacher, and not even being eighteen or older, was totally wrong. That and he felt the taste, the very same taste of the punch he had consumed not long ago; the alcohol had surfaced, the sweet numbing taste of alcohol.

But, society had changed and they had no right to say who was allowed to be with who. Also, he was seventeen, he was one year—no, not even that—away from eighteen. And alcohol made you do the things you wouldn't dare to do when sober, right?

Link turned his upper-body around and wrapped his arms around the older man's neck. He had already pushed away one chance for something new, and probably better. He wasn't going to do it again. No, this time, _he_ would be the one to make it happen. He would be stubborn, but in a better way.

Link's legs changed angles so that he was sitting on the side, their legs making out a cross. Ike's tongue swept across Link's bottom-lip; the blonde granted access instantly, eagerly welcoming the foreign muscle.

After some time, after a few hefty, open-mouthed kisses, a small device started vibrating and playing a slow, repetitive tune. However, it did not happen before Ike managed to stroke Link's back. He stroked down his back, over his rear, under his thigh, and hooked around his knee; bringing it closer to him, bringing Link closer to him.

''Nnnngg...Damn, not now.'' Link tried to ignore the alarming sound from his cellphone. But he eventually came to the conclusion that he was unable to ignore the nagging noise from the phone. ''Answer, answer!'' it kept on shouting.

However, Link did absolutely _not_ want to end their little 'get together'.

''Hello?'' Link kept stroking those soft blue locks, and planted an occasional kiss or two on Ike's jawline.

Ike had started kissing and sucking the crook of the blonde's neck. Link had to literally press his hand over his mouth to make sure no unwanted noises escaped. Link pulled away. He was now sitting on Ike's lap, knees on either side of the older man's legs. And he cupped Ike's face, looking directly into his eyes.

''I have to go. Cat. Neighbor. Time. You get the picture.''

Link leaned in for a last kiss. It was a chaste kiss, but it was prolonged enough for it to give the same feel as the kiss back then.

''Could you, umm... Come to my place? Tomorrow?'' Link was worried, and it showed on his face. Ike, picking this up, started stroking Link's back soothingly, hopefully making the boy less tense.

Link received a nod in response. But it was good enough for him, more than enough. Ike had just accepted to come to him, well, outside the whole caring-for-a-sick-person ordeal.

''Okay.'' Link rose up to his feet, already missing the heat from sitting in his teacher's lap. But he smiled regardless. ''I'll see you tomorrow then? One o'clock?''

Another nod.

Link nodded back more enthusiastically, and then he was on his way to the nearest exit.

On the way Link couldn't help but wonder, ''Was this a bad decision?''

No! Those kinds of thoughts did not help at all. He had to be stubborn, but in another way than he had been before. He would not end up regretting anything. Link would not be able to handle another situation where he would ask himself the same question over the span of several years:

What if?

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><p>Ike was back at his own apartment, lying more than sitting on his couch, mimicking the way Dark would sit in his chair every day. There was a glass of scotch in his right hand, its contents almost emptied. His computer was turned on, and it had come to the end of yet another song on a randomized playlist. The last sentence kept repeating over and over again until the music died down.<p>

_~Now it's too late  
><em>_Now it's too late  
><em>_Now it's too late  
><em>_Now it's too late~_

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><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

The music class part, was thought out, but I never considered it too much until another member of FanFiction ,Chi-Chiwawa talked about including a music session. Didn't come out like you said, but hey, like I said. Parts of this was already planned out. At least parts of the different characters' personality and abilities.

You should all be used to this by now, but I will still say it. Thank the beta-reader. DOET! She deserves it, and more.

And in case you skipped the Author's note written before the story. I'll write it in thicker letters:

_**OBS!**_

**I will start updating every other Tuesday. Look at the Author's note before this for more information.**

And don't forget to leave a review. Especially you. Yeah you. You who have read this story and not bothered to send one. And you, you who have already written one. I want another one. Or else I take back the schedule-deal. I'm serious. Look at my serious face → :I


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note:**

Now it's finally beta-ed. Well, it's been beta-ed for quite some time actually. I was just too lazy make the beta-ed chapter ready for postification. Anyone who's used DocX knows what I'm talking about. If not, then I guess there's something strange with mu PC.

Many of you are probably wondering why there is no new chapter. Well, there's a simple explanation for that. But to make sure everyone (Or most) get this...

**OBS! IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! HERP-HERP-DERP-DERP!**

I have motivational problems. I usually have problems focusing and not getting distracted from writing, every chapter. But that is usually neutralized by the reviews I gain. However this time it did not suffice. I'm not saying this is your fault (Directly. I mean despite the fact that it takes a few minutes -perhaps several if you're making a long one- to write a decent review. But for me, it takes at least three hours to make a decent chapter. Just some compensation for that time, is all I ask.)

**OBS! MORE IMPORTANT CRAP AT THE END OF DA CHAPTAH!**

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><p><span>Chapter Nine<span>

Ike had his hand on the doorknob. All he had to do was turn it so he could go inside. What was he doing?

Link was watching the door, hoping that it would open soon, hoping that one particular person would enter. What was he doing?

Link questioned his actions, but at the same time, he knew exactly what he was going to do and why he was doing it. But he still doubted himself in the past, present, and probably future.

A soft click was heard from the door.

Ike was determined to sort things out. The truth was, he wanted this, but at the same time he didn't.

Link whipped his head around to see his front door opening and Ike walking in. He mustered up the brightest smile he could, rose up to his feet, and walked towards his teacher in a welcoming manner.

''Hi.'' Link went through a list of actions he was going to do before the day was finished.

One: Invade his personal space.

Link walked forth. Ike hadn't noticed him yet because of the sheer fact that he had turned around to close the door. But when Ike turned back around, Link was just an inch away from him.

Two: Physical contact.

Link put his hands on Ike's stomach and slowly brought them upwards against the man's chest.

Three: Grab his collar and seal the deal.

Link took a hold of the taller man's collar and yanked him forward, sealing their lips together.

Link started walking back, their lips still connected. He could feel the edge of the couch hit his back. Ike's hands moved to either side of Link's waist, trapping him (Not that he minded).

''What do you say…'' Link had pulled back, and he took a few deep breaths. ''…to this every day…'' he ran a finger along Ike's jawline while speaking in a low voice, ''and this?'' Link took a hold of his teacher's chin and kissed him again.

Ike had yet to say a single word; however, Link did not need any verbal response. After all, about sixty to seventy percent of human communication is body language. And Ike's body language told him that he was enjoying it—very much at that.

There was still a shred of doubt lingering in Link's mind, though. However, there was no room for doubt. Link was currently walking around the black couch, Ike still connected to his lips. He could not pass up yet another opportunity to some kind of change; not this time. It had happened before, twice, to be exact. He would not allow it to happen a third time.

No matter what, he would make this happen. Even if he had to push it to the limit. Link would make it happen.

''Come on,'' Link said softly while seating himself down on the couch and dragging Ike down with him. ''Please?'' A hand found its way around Ike's head and buried itself in his messy blue tresses.

''_Please..._'' Link whispered into Ike's ear. He wrapped his legs around the older male's waist, one hand still holding the back of Ike's head, while the other one slowly slid down his chest.

Link had already given up his dignity the second he uttered the word ''please''; there was no reason for him to _not_ go in all the way.

He planted a few kisses along the neck before sucking on his teacher's earlobe. His right hand never stopped its ministrations. The fingertips gently rubbed circles against Ike's chest before sliding downwards in a suggestive manner.

Link brought all of his actions to a halt, only to whisper huskily in Ike's ear.

''_If you want more, there's always a way._''

What Link expected was that he would pull back, looking into Ike's eyes. He expected he'd hear the words he so desperately wanted Ike to say, thus sealing the deal. What Link didn't expect was to find himself pinned down on his own couch, lips pressed hard against his own, hands holding his shoulders so tightly he was almost certain there would be bruising, and another body pressed up against him.

''Nnnnn...'' Link grabbed the front of Ike's shirt, not sure whether to push him away or pull him closer.

Ike ran a hand up Link's back, making the younger man arch beneath him. In response, the blonde tugged at the hem of Ike's shirt, an action that signaled he wanted the piece of cloth to vanish.

But Ike was far from ready to strip off his clothing. Instead, he chose to bring their bodies together and hold them with such a crushing force that Link would probably have a bit more difficulty breathing. One hand went down Link's back and traveled further until it landed on the largest muscle attached to the boy.

Link gave a high pitched squeal from the feeling of having his butt squeezed.

Ike could feel a leg hooking itself tighter around his waist, bringing them—and their hips—closer.

If the bluenette were to speak honestly, at least half of all that was going on was his fault. After all, the last time they had gotten this 'close' was yesterday. And at the school, out of all places!

Truth be told, Ike sobered up half-way through their little 'special' meeting. He was one-hundred percent aware when he chose to grab a minor's rear, just like what he was doing now. Ike felt guilty for performing such despicable actions; and yet, it felt so right.

''So, what do you say?''

Ike was interrupted from his thoughts, and he found himself looking into Link's eyes; a mischievous smile was plastered on the blonde's face.

''Well, I...''

_Do it! Do it!_Ike was going to get a headache if the continuous thoughts did not stop. He could feel an imaginary slap, a fantasy kick, and a fairly real rant. Ike couldn't believe it; his own sexual desires were yelling at him for not accepting Link's offer. All he had to say was the word 'yes'! Well, the sexual devil's main goal was actually just getting Ike laid, but getting a relationship out of it would always be a nice bonus.

''...I don't think that's a good idea.''

_What? What does he mean? _Link wondered frantically. How could Ike have rejected him? This was not how it was supposed to go! _'Yes. I would love to,' _were the words that should have come out, not _'I don't think this is a good idea'_!

It felt absolutely awful, horrible, and devastating. And most of all, it was _discouraging. _Link could feel the hope draining away, and he could feel the dreaded feeling of rejection take its place. No! He would not stand for it—he could not stand for it. There was a window of opportunity, thus Link was determined to open that window completely. Even if he had to 'force' it open.

''But, but you have to!'' Link had flipped them over so that he was the one on top. Ike looked absolutely stunned, but that wasn't surprising considering; One, What Link said sounded something between a desperate plea and a threat; Two, The boy was sitting on his lap (well, more specifically on his groin), and Three; he had seized Ike's collar and brought their faces as close possible without having them touch.

''You have to! Or...or else I'll tell everyone what has been going on! W-what you've been doing to me.'' Link fully understood what he was doing and why, but he still did it. He and his stubborn mind didn't want to let go.

Ike tensed from the fist that landed on his chest. And then another one, and another one. Ike caught both of the hands, one wrist in each hand. But what really surprised him were the thin lines of tears running down from each corner of Link's blue eyes.

Ike cupped Link's face, which was looking down. Link looked into Ike's eyes in confusion. He had absolutely no idea what was up with the look in his teacher's eyes. It wasn't before Ike's thumb brushed against his cheeks, feeling the tears get smudged out over his cheeks, did he realize.

Oh, he knew what would happen next. How he despised what was going to happen.

Ike locked his dark blue eyes with Link's lighter ones. There it was, what Link was so sick and tired of.

It was a look of pity.

Ike was about to open his mouth, but a hand stopped him from talking. Not in the gentle way, where one would place their hand over the other one's mouth. No, Ike was staring to the side in shock, his left cheek burning in pain.

''I-I don't want your pity!'' Link had seized Ike's collar yet again, and was now yelling directly into Ike's face; new tears were forming and falling along the blonde's face.

Ike was not having any of this. He grabbed both of Link's upper arms, holding them so tightly that there was no chance Link would be able to wriggle away. ''Then what do you want?'' Ike said in a commanding, stern voice. A pang of guilt quickly shot through his body when he heard how harsh his voice had sounded.

Link froze at the sound of it. He still held eye contact with Ike; however, his eyes were kind of distant, unfocused, even.

_''So. What is it you want? Can you answer the question? Or did you get so desperate for that man that you have forgotten what you truly wanted from all of this?" _Link's mind asked him, demanding the boy to give the man in front of him some answers. Well, perhaps not _all _the answers, but enough to satisfy his curiosity.

Ike expected one of the following answers:

Relationship; one of those cliché, taboo relationships between a student and a teacher you could find in almost all the media.

Sex; the desire to loose one's virginity earlier than the others. Or get laid with someone, perhaps more experienced when it came to that matter.

Or the overused phrase, ''I don't know, I just do.'' When one's hormones were unbalanced, and he or she would probably make bad decisions.

However, Ike did not expect the following words to come out of Link's mouth:

''No regrets...''

What? What did Ike just hear? No regrets?

...No regrets. It sparked Ike's curiosity. However, he would leave the subject be. Those words could tell over a hundred different things, at least have a hundred different meanings.

Ike...Ike understood, he understood at least a fraction of the meaning. He had once uttered those words himself once too. And at that time, he was overwhelmed with joy when people had accepted his reasons, actions and wants. And it would be hypocritical to deny Link's request when his had been fulfilled.

''Shh...'' Ike stroked the back of Link's head, liking the feel of the blonde tresses gliding between his fingers. ''It's okay. I understand, and...I accept.'' Ike stopped stroking the back of Link's head, and started pulling him forward. But instead of kissing him on the lips, like one would expect, Ike kissed the outer corner of Link's tightly shut eye. It was a bit salty, but that was expected.

Ike decided he might regret his actions one day, but he was certain Link would not. And that was good enough for him.

''Come here...'' Ike lifted and pulled Link just a few centimeters forth, bringing them just a tad bit closer.

Link instantly stiffened from the feeling of Ike's arms circled around his waist, but he forced himself to relax as fast as he could, enjoying their shared body heat.

''You do know we have to discuss 'this' later?'' Ike murmured into Link's hair; his deep voice relaxing the teenager in his arms.

''Mmm...But do you think we can postpone it till tomorrow? I kind of want to just stay like this for a while.'' Link traced unknown shapes on Ike's upper body.

''...Does that mean you want me to stay the night?''

''I guess I do...''

When Link felt and heard Ike's breath slow down—an obvious sign that he was falling asleep—he couldn't help but let a smile plaster itself onto his face. A true, genuine smile. It wasn't that Link faked his smiles when he was with his friends, but there was a certain difference between the two.

This one felt so complete, so relaxing, and he couldn't stop his mouth from forming that slightly crescent shape.

Despite the fact that the day had not been as eventful as others might have been for people in this stage of a relationship, it was the last push it needed to start. The both of them wanted it. Regardless of outside opinion, they still managed to establish something. And neither of them regretted their decision.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

This is short. Yes. But the next chapter is longer. I know that because...well I write them. (And it's already beyond 2,000 words and not even half-way done so...)

About the reviews. Am I trying to guilt you into writing a review? I dunno maybe, I'm just saying what my opinions are. Am I just looking for attention? I am posting my stories online for people to read. Of course I want attention! Everyone on FF wants attention. If not, they probably would not post their stories on the internet. (Do I sound pissy? Yes I do. I apologize for that.)

**OBS! OBS! IMPORTANT FUCKERY COMING IN!**

I will not post the tenth chapter. Not before there has been a week or two; probably two. Why? Well, I don't want to loose the spirit, the joy I have in writing. I the following weeks I will: Get back into the little social life I had, stop pushing it aside for just a moment. Play a few games I love(Assassin's Creed, Pokèmon, Zelda, LoL, TF2), so I'll stop being so pissy about almost everything. Wait for a few reviews to hopefully come in, perhaps they will motivate me a little.

And for everyone who has already reviews without me going all ''FFFFUUUUU-''

Thank you. Arigato gozaimasu. Tusen takk. Dankeshön. Merci. Grazie mille. Tack så mycket.

**MINDLESS FUCKERY DONE!**

PS: Seeing how I will be taking a break that probably will last for two weeks. There is a certain risk that the next chapter will be the last before the official November break. It really depends, I'll tell the reason for the November break in the next chapter, (or the next after that[if I upload a chapter after the next one]).

PPS: You are free to review now. Of course, after reading my rant. Nope! You're not allowed to do it before.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note:**

Let's all pretend I've been dead for these last two months. No one's to blame here...Hehe..Fine!

I''m sorry for being such a lazy ass, and not writing (Being practically dead) for over two months. But I've been busy... Playing video games. Shut up! You would have done the same if you were in my position. Having you father suddenly agreeing to buy you a crap-ton of games. Either for PS3 the Nintendo Wii, or on Steam. I've told my beta-reader -CrimsonLink- that I will cut down on playing too much games. I said I would limit myself to Mass Effect and the MGS series...Well, I kinda broke that promise... Bioshock is such a great game, so shut up!

Here's the chapter. You know what they say: Better late than never.. Right?

**Edit: OBS!**

**I died again. Well not really, but let's just pretend. Actually, my laptop deleted ''Life is a Highway'' so yeah. Everything I had written for chapter 11 is kinda gone. But don't worry. I'll make it up for you all. In the nearest future (Maybe) I will post another multi-chapter story, which will probably take me a million years to update too...Sorry. But don't worry, I'll make up for that too. I'll make sure the story is really gay, and with a lot of IkexLink. Probably going to span about 3-5 chapters. It's AU. What kind of AU? fskdfhjk- You'll see. Oh and, CrimsonLink, about the games... I lied! LA Noire is amazing. I'll probably write something inspired from it.**

**tl;dr-version. This bitch is on hold until further notice.**

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><p>Chapter Ten<p>

Link woke up to a beautiful sunrise. The nightmares, the taunts, the mockery, and the disappointment had left him alone for the entire night. No. That was a lie. They had still been there, but in a lesser degree than before. And that was a good enough reason for Link to try to persuade Ike to sleep next to him again.

They had gone off to bed after laying in each others' arms for several minutes, listening to their heartbeats. Just lying there, not uttering a single word. There were a few kisses here and there (Link had to be the one taking the initiative), but there was nothing above PG-13, much to Link's dismay.

He turned around to look at the older man lying right next to him. Link took in yet again Ike's features, studying them, memorizing them, admiring them—from how the blue locks fell over his face to how his Adam's apple moved every time he swallowed.

Link debated whether to give into the temptation and drag his finger across Ike's jawline.

This whole thing would probably be awkward for the first few days—if there even were going to be any more days—for both of them, but right now, it felt... right.

Link found himself unable to resist the little temptation that had presented itself for him. He put his right index finger at one side of Ike's jaw, having to prop himself up on his elbow to properly see the other's face, and slowly started to drag it across the jawline.

The teenager's actions were apparently registered by Ike, since the older man's eyes began to flutter. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Ike turned around with Link's finger still on the side of his jaw.

Ike grabbed Link's hand by the wrist and brought it up to his lips, and gave it a quick peck. But it didn't stop there. No, far from it. Before Link could comprehend the chaste kiss that was placed on the back of his hand, Ike had pulled him forth and right into his arms.

Just before Link found himself pressed against the larger man's chest, he spotted a smile on Ike's lips. It gave him a warm feeling inside to see it, even if it was for just a split second.

Ike took a deep breath, taking in the scent of Link's hair.

''You do know we have to discuss this, right?'' Ike said into the blonde's hair in a low voice.

''I know but... can't we postpone it? Just for a little while.'' Link buried his face in the crook of Ike's neck.

Ike grabbed Link's shoulders and pushed him away, but just enough for the younger one to be able to see his face clearly.

''Hey. Did you hear anything of what I said?'' Ike put his hand on Link's cheek, but instead of stroking it lovingly, he grabbed the edge of Link's face and forcefully turned the teenager around so he was facing him.

''It's your turn, so I will ask you again. What is your opinion about this whole ordeal?'' Ike did not let go of Link's face, despite the small tugs the boy made to try to escape his grip.

A sigh escaped Link's lips (Not that he tried to conceal it). ''Fine. You win. I'll talk, but just give me a moment to think. 'Kay?''

Ike accepted Link's request. It was made clear when the older male slackened his grip on his face, but Ike still would not let go completely.

''...My opinion is that despite having us both take a huge risk for this... I still think it's worth it. And I want it to continue.'' Link struggled to find words to express his opinions, but he managed nonetheless.

''… Any thoughts?'' Ike went back to lovingly stroking the boy's face. Link seemed to like that; that was something for Ike to remember for the future.

Future...

Would there even be a future? _Should_ there be a future? Would they quit, chicken out, before going any further? Or would they get caught?

Perhaps this was a bad idea. Perhaps they should just leave now and not look back. Perhaps—

''I am fully aware of how risky it is. But all in all, I feel happy. Happier than what I would've been if this had not happened.''

Ike refocused his eyes, which had fazed out while he was having his little game of twenty questions in his head.

They were sad eyes but had a genuine happy smile. Those two did not go well—well, Link didn't exactly look bad, at least according to Ike—they just did not fit together. He felt he had to change those light blue eyes to something different, to something in the 'happy-to-be-here' direction.

''Hey, hey...'' Ike grabbed Link's chin and tilted his head so that he was looking directly into his eyes. ''You know... I'm not sure if I think it's worth it.''

Link's eyes instantly became even worse, his mood dropping visibly.

''But you know, you might change that.'' Ike smiled at the confused expression plastered onto Link's face. It wasn't exactly the 'cute puppy-confused expression' you saw in films, TV, or books; it was more like the humorous expression you saw in comics and on the internet. It was the expression that asked, ''What did you say?'' and nothing more.

''...Convince me.'' Ike leaned down while leading Link's face up, eventually making their lips meet yet again.

Link wrapped his arms around Ike's neck, giving the older man no means of escape—not that the bluenette currently had any plans in ending this.

But when Ike felt like enough was enough, and he had surely been 'convinced', Link refused to let go of him. Arms clinged themselves around his neck, locked securely. Ike felt trapped, but not in a bad way. It felt so right, so nice, and he had almost lost every intention he had about disconnecting their lips.

Ike felt unsure whether he should start actually touching the boy beneath instead of having his hands planted on the bed. He wouldn't do anything before Link made some sort of signal… and then—_Hello there—_a couple of legs were wrapped around his waist.

Now that was a clear sign. Ike had gotten the green light, the thumbs up; there was no stopping now.

Ike ran his hand down his student's clothed back. He continued to stroke the now arched back until his hand had settled itself firmly onto the largest single muscle within the human body.

After a couple of minutes had passed, Ike was certain that the boy beneath him could not resist his need for fresh oxygen, especially when one saw his performances during P.E.

And, as deducted, Link had to break away from their little lip-lock. The blonde boy was desperately sucking in as much fresh air as his lungs managed to capture.

''Hnn... I'm convinced.'' Ike hummed, definitely pleased with the little session in which they were both performing extraordinary well.

Link did not answer; his smile however, answered every question Ike would have asked at that moment.

''Heh. That was nice. However there is just one more thing I would have liked to talk about.'' Ike started stroking Link's face yet again, finding that he had started to enjoy the simple action.

''Will it have the same end result as the last one? 'Cause then I'm all in.'' Link took Ike's hand, gave it a swift peck, and proceeded to move in for more.

However, Ike had put his index finger in front of his mouth, lest there be more open-mouthed kisses that would cause both to forget the subject at hand.

And then there were the disappointed eyes, disappointed face, disappointed boy, and the one thing that threatened to crack Ike's resolve; a high-pitched, disappointed whine.

''Don't be that way. You know 'this' will be much, _much_ more difficult than most relationships. And relationships aren't that easy to begin with. So we will need a set of rules. Do you follow?'' Ike buried his hand into Link's blonde hair, enjoying the feel of those blond locks running between his fingers.

Link just nodded, unhappiness still evident on his expression—a tiny hint of sad eyes, a handful of head tilted down in sadness and a dose of pout. What an adorable sight to behold.

''We should work this out together, so lighten up. If you do a good enough job, perhaps I'll give a little reward for your performance and dedication. What do you say? Deal?'' Ike added a tiny peck on the boy's forehead to hopefully make him brighten up.

''Deal.'' Link snuggled closer to his teacher. Once positioned, he started running his hand down Ike's chest slowly. ''You start...''

''All right. First rule: No PDA. Especially in not school.'' Ike raised one finger to emphasize his point.

''Hehe... Have you already planned this whole thing?'' Link laughed, while starting to rub Ike's bottom lip with his right index finger.

''Maybe...Anyways, rule number two—'' Ike got effectively silenced by a finger pressing itself onto his lips.

''How about I make the next rule? That way, it will be more fair. One rule each, and then one rule together. What do you think?'' Link didn't give Ike enough time to answer before starting to speak again.

''My rule: Some kind of affection at least once a day, unless there's no possible chance. And no one can see or gain any suspicion from this.'' Link was currently straddling Ike, this position giving him more authority.

''Heh. Okay. Third and final rule: No breaking the rules. Got that?'' Ike's voice was stern and commanding, but Link could still hear that it was a question that was directed towards him.

''Well, it sounds kind of pointless, but fine. Those are the rules,'' Link sighed, still sitting on top of him. The teenager quickly wiped off the slightly annoyed expression, and replaced it with a smug one.

''How about we enforce rule number two? Right here, right now.'' Link did not give the older male time to answer, as he bent down to give him a kiss.

''Mm...'' Ike ran his hand down Link's back; enjoying how it curved beneath the palm of his hand.

After just one measly minute, Ike pulled back. A low, disappointed whine came from the back of the teenager's throat.

''Come on. We can't lie in bed all day.'' Ike tried to get up, but the teenager sitting on top of him would not make that an easy task. Link lay himself down, his body almost parallel to Ike's.

''Do we have to?'' Link pouted. He hoped for the older man to give in.

Ike encircled his arms around Link's waist, giving the teenager a small tint of hope. Perhaps the older male had actually listened to his wishes.

However, that tiny glint of hope ceased to exist when Link felt himself lifted up from his comfortable position. Not only was he not lying comfortably on Ike anymore, he was currently sitting on his companion's lap. He was being held in a bridal-style manner. And it certainly did not help with that annoying smirk on Ike's face, especially considering the fact that Link had his arms entwined around his neck.

But before Link managed to get one word out of his mouth, Ike had risen to his feet and was walking towards the room's exit.

''Okay! Okay! I get it! Just put me down!'' Link started to thrash in his teacher's grip, his right arm trying to pry off the hand that was supporting his upper-body, while the other hand was pushing at Ike's face.

Ike's laughter was low, but it still managed to annoy Link.

The younger male had a feeling that he'd have to endure more of this mocking laughter if he actually went full in to pursue a relationship with this man.

''Fine. You win. I'll go to the kitchen and make some breakfast.'' Link proceeded to successfully push himself out of Ike's grip. Ike listened to the light step that walked down the wooden stairs. He walked down the stairwell himself, and the bottom steps gave a few creaks under his weight. It was easy for him to see what the young teen was doing, since the living room and the kitchen were combined into one room.

The bluenette found himself stepping up on the wooden threshold that connected the two rooms, but not before walking around a few square wooden beams. He walked around the kitchen island, noting that flour, eggs, and sugar had been placed onto its black surface.

Ike placed his hands on Link's hip. He sensed the young teen tense momentarily before relaxing again, which indicated that Link had failed to notice his presence before now.

Ike's lips were just mere centimeters away from Link's ear when he whispered, ''_So, what are you making?_''

''Well, it all depends on what you want.'' Link his head around, making him look directly into the dark blue eyes with equal intensity. ''Is there something specific you want to eat?''

''Well, I could just eat you. But if you're referring to edible food—'' Ike took a firm hold on Link's hips and swung him around, making him face him, '''—I believe there are certain grades from school that will say that you are not the best at that kind of thing.''

''What? Hey! But I—" Link's words were interrupted by a finger, shushing him. He gave Ike a mixture of an annoyed, surprised and confused look all at the same time.

''Come on. You let me sleep over. Making you breakfast is the least I could do, and besides, it's not exactly the first time I've made food for you. Now is it?'' Ike gave Link a swift peck on his forehead and then turned him around and gently pushed him away.

Link wanted to put up more of a fight for the sake of his own moronic pride. But he felt that he should instead enjoy what was currently happening. He knew, after all, that it would absolutely _not _be like this most of the time.

A low but familiar tune suddenly started ringing in Link's eardrums, capturing his attention and redirecting it to the large table in front of two black couches.

Link flipped up his phone, the name ''Pit'' being displayed on the screen.

''What's up? Roy and I are going to the mall about an hour from now. So.. Do you want to—''

''Do you want waffles for breakfast?'' Ike yelled from the kitchen, completely unaware of the extra set of ears that was capable of hearing him.

''What was that?''

Link felt his heart stop for a second. Panic clouded his usually clear mind, his blood running cold and limbs staring to quiver ever so slightly.

''Link? You still there?''

Pit's voice managed to wake him up from his state. He stayed tranquil on the outside, but remained a turmoil of rampage emotions on the inside. ''Yeah yeah. It was just... the TV. Some kind of crappy soap opera Peach told me to check out. Nothing else.'' Link noticed the slight pause in his speech, and prayed that his brown haired friend did not pick that pause up.

'' 'Kay. So, what do you say? Do you want to come with us? Roy's here already.''

''Oh sounds awesome but,'' Link gave a swift glance towards Ike's direction. The older male had already begun heating the waffle iron.

''Here it comes…''

''…Not today. I can't.''

''Why not?'' Pit questioned. Roy's attention had been redirected from the TV-screen to his peer sitting a couple of meters away from him.

''I just... feel like lazing around this weekend. But I've got to go now. See you on Monday. Bye.''

Before Pit could get a single word to leave his mouth, a monotonous beep replaced the voice of his blond friend. Roy looked at him with a raised brow. Pit could only give a shrug of his shoulders in response.

Link threw the phone onto the light colored carpet and gave fairly audible sigh.

''Something wrong?'' Ike questioned from the kitchen. Two waffles had been placed on the medium sized plate he had prepared. A third one was on its way, perhaps even a fourth.

''No. It's nothing. Don't worry about it, Ike.''

''Okay. If you say so.'' Ike checked the iron again. No. Not yet, but very soon, there would be three instead of just two.

* * *

><p>The day had gone by neither too fast nor too slow. It had its share of awkward moments, but that was to be expected.<p>

However, only once had the carpet of uncomfortable silences befallen them, and it refused to lift itself up again.

Luckily, Ike had managed to remove the bothersome rug himself by pointing out the odd choices of books that existed in the bookshelf within the house. Well, it wasn't the books themselves, but more like the different languages that they were all written in. Most of the languages were from Europe, ranging from Italian to Russian. There was even one written in German (Surprisingly enough, it was given to him by Roy. Ike had even questioned the redhead's abilities to read; being on the brink of categorizing him as an illiterate.)

But the book that had managed to receive most of his attention was a completely black book. Well, technically it wasn't only in one color. It had a title, author's name and a small picture of a heart with sharp spikes protruding from it.

Link had told short snippets of the plot, not revealing too much, but just enough to catch and haul in Ike's attention. Perhaps he should pick up a copy himself one day. Or maybe he'd just borrow it from Samus. As far as he knew, Samus had every book published in possession, one way or another.

Currently, Link and Ike were lying in each others' arms, watching one of those late night movies.

A light click, barely audible enough for human ears, came from the front door.

Link turned around—he was now leaning over the back of the couch—and a pleased smile crept itself onto his face. He reached out his hand, rubbed his thumb and index finger together, and made a sharp sound, starting from a 'P' to a long, dragged out 'S'.

Ike looked at the younger, puzzled by his strange behavior until he heard soft chimes of a small bell being shaken a few times.

''Come here...'' It was coming from behind the couch. The blonde boy had a creature in his arms. It was a fine specimen of the species Felis _catus_, more commonly known as the domestic cat.

''And who might this be?'' Ike questioned. His eyes focused on the gray tabby lying in the teenager's arms.

''Ah. Well, her name is Missy. She's been my only company for one and a half years now.'' Link brought the feline creature up to his face. He felt like cuddling with the soft gray fur of the female cat, until he hastily pulled back when he felt a recognizable smell on her body.

''Hmm... Male cat. Have you been messing around with the strays in the neighborhood?'' Link raised a brow to the feline. An almost motherly tone was used.

''Oh there's no need to be jealous, _dear._ You can mess around with me as much as you want.'' Ike put his right hand behind Link's head, his fingers tangling themselves in those soft blond tresses. He pushed the teen forward until their mouths met. A slow open-mouth kiss had started between them.

Link let the hand that was scratching behind Missy's ear move and gently slide its way down Ike's chest.

Missy however, did not like the sudden turn of attention from her owner. She started to paw at his stomach and eventually his thighs. She even had her claws out, which made Link's attention make a turn towards the animal instead of the human.

Ike gave her a slightly disapproving look. Was it possible that the cat could have...? No, it was a cat. Of course it would not have done such a thing on purpose. It was an animal. Ike had to stop overthinking these things. Instead, he reached forward, trying to pet the cat. But instead of Ike stroking the striped fur, the tabby pulled away from the man's touch and buried herself into Link shirt.

Link started rubbing her forehead, and she started making a soft purring noise. ''Just give her some time. I'm sure she'll warm up to you, eventually. Oh don't look so pouty. She's always skeptic to new people. You should have seen how she reacted to Roy—he had over twenty scratch marks. And that was only on his left arm!''

The purring noises coming from Missy seemed to increase after that last sentence left Link's mouth. Perhaps Ike wasn't so paranoid after all.

Ike's thoughts and mild disapproval of the cat's presence were quickly washed away as soon as he felt Link's lips touch was a nice, sweet chaste kiss.

_''Just give it some time, eh? Fine. I think I'll do that. I think I will.''_

* * *

><p>''Hey, Roy.'' Pit tried to get the attention of his redheaded friend. No response. He tried a few other times until he grew tired and just used the most brutal, but efficient way to make the fiery-haired teen focus.<p>

''Hey listen, _Ginger_!'' Pit yelled.

On cue, Roy's head shot straight up, brows furrowed into a frown. ''What?'' he asked, irritated.

''You've been quiet a_nd _non-moving for the last half hour.'' Pit gave a look of concern, a look that was rarely ever shown.

''Well... Nah, it's nothing to worry about. I was just lost in my thoughts.'' Roy brushed him off. Whatever it was, Roy felt like keeping it for himself—or at least until he had more of a stepping ground in what was happening.

''What thoughts?'' Pit said in a mocking tone. Those two words could be interpreted in at least two different ways. He didn't know if he liked this one, or the one that he was kind of half-expecting.

''Just shut up. Go bother Marth or something.'' Roy waved him off.

Perhaps he could get a minute or two alone with Link. Just ask a few questions and make sure everything was okay. On Monday, or Tuesday. Didn't matter, as long as it happened.

Yeah. Just a few minutes.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

I have kind of an important thing to say, so **I'll use some bold letters over here to more easily capture your attention**. Chapter Eleven is kind of on a standstill. I have no bloody idea what to put in there. I need a way to break the ice. But these thing will not concern you. Oh no. Instead, I will ask you for a small favor. I need to widen my repertoire. I've got like, how many?.. Six stories. So, if you want, you can send me a plot, characters, pairing. I'll send a PM if I want to use it (If someone actually sends me this. If not, then this would be awkward) And if you want to add details, plot twist, surprises, recurring details, and that kind of things, tell me. This is not just for me to have more stories in my 'library', but I also need some kind of 'break' from LIAH. Not the kind I've had up until now, but more of a writing-some-other-stuff kind of break.

Fact for this chapter (Since I was gone for so long, here's an extra little treat/useless trivia):

''Uke'' is the Norwegian word for week. Not kidding. Just look it up if you want.

PS: Yes. The waffles are very important. And so is Ser Pounce-a-lot - I mean Missy.


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